WELCOME TO MIDDLE EARTH. With a 3 hour drive ahead of us to Rotorua, we decided on a whim to take a detour to Matamata in order to see the set of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie franchise. We have no pride; we visited the most touristy attraction in NZ; we did it for the kids in all of us. Before our trip whenever we mentioned we were going to NZ, the most common query was, “Are you going to see Hobbiton?” So that we could say that we saw it, we did our duty.
We walked the hilly grounds for 2 hours as we witnessed the obsessive vision of Peter Jackson, who wanted to create Tolkien’s vision religiously.
The grounds are kept up to prepare for the multiple sequels of The Hobbit series.
The shire
The older I get, the more I look like a Hobbit.
Most of the set is a façade. In the novel Bilboa Baggins’ home is topped by an oak tree. Jackson created a fake one to be true to Tolkien’s description.
The famous tree in the book and movie
The beehive
Look familiar?
The Green Dragon Inn
Only in NZ is drinking ale in a Hobbit pub included in the price of admission!
A view of the shire from the Green Dragon pub
We arrived in Rotorua and checked into a boutique hotel that was totally retro. The entire hotel was accented in Kiwi green.
The lobby
The bar
Our bed had a kiwi green bear on it.
We wandered next door to eat some dinner and almost was turned away because we did not have reservations. This place looks unassuming, like Pedones’ Pizza, but it turned out to be the highest rated restaurants in Rotorua (Trip Advisor). Family owned, they make their own pasta daily, and we had one of the best meals to date. I had pappardelle bolognese and Pete had a pesto tuna steak. They turned away twice as many people as they served. Although no tips are required in NZ, we tipped the family for giving us a table and an outstanding meal.
5 Comments
I am forwarding these to Hugh – he really wants to go to NZ! Thanks for keeping us posted!
These pictures are our favorites to date! So much fun in hobbit-land, a great dinner and a kiwi-green hotel to lay your heads down at night! Love you!!!
Lyn and I so enjoy all the days of your trip. The pictures are breathtaking we also love your narration, it’s like being there with you. Xoxo
How neat! I just watched LOTR recently! Looks just like the movie!
OMG! Your heads must have been spinning to go from the Hobbit environment to the ultra-modish hotel. Well, a nice dinner will always settle that down. What tales you’ll have to tell!