We woke to frost on the windscreen.
Nothing new for Carlin, however I last saw frost in the UK. The caravan park showers were interesting. The mixing valve gave you the option of scalding hot or freezing cold. Nothing in between! Undeterred I managed a shower; albeit briefly! We then headed back to Matamata to shop for a stove gas canister. I’d forgotten to buy one the previous day.
You may be thinking “Why go to Matamata?” A hint can be found in the town information centre.
We were there on ‘party business’
Just outside Matamata is Hobbiton from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
Sir Peter Jackson was flying around the area in a helicopter looking for film locations when he noticed a small part of Russell Alexander’s 500ha farm looked an ideal location for Hobbiton.
Peter Jackson asked the NZ Government for financial assistance with the production of the film. The government declined, stating they didn’t have the funds. However they subsequently offered the services of the NZ Army Corps of Engineers to construct a road to the site. This was accepted and the army engineers built the road. Some of the soldiers also had cameo roles as Orcs. Apparently they didn’t require make-up! Having been an army engineer for 24 years I can quite believe this.
Hobbiton was constructed to be a temporary film location and after the filming of The Lord of the Rings it was demolished. Subsequently Peter Jackson decided to film The Hobbit trilogy and Hobbiton needed to be reconstructed. This time Russell Alexander reached an agreement with Peter Jackson that the film set would be permanent as he (Alexander) had realised the future potential of the site.
We parked at The Shire’s Rest and bought entry tickets. From memory it wasn’t cheap at $86 each.
Access to Hobbiton is via a private road and all visitors are required to travel on one of the company buses. It’s a group guided tour with each group on a separate timetable. No wandering around on your own!
One of the trees in the above photo is a fake! It’s the one on the skyline in the middle of the photo directly above Bilbo’s home. By the time Peter Jackson started filming The Hobbit the original tree had grown. A new tree was sourced. However it wasn’t an Oak tree and Peter Jackson demanded an oak. Overnight a crew stripped all the leaves from the branches and wired 40,000 fake oak leaves in their place. Unfortunately after several weeks in the sunlight the fake leaves faded silver. The process had to be repeated with non fading plastic leaves.
Each of the homes has a different theme.
The vegetables are real. A team of gardeners are employed to keep everything original. They even peg out the laundry in the morning and take it in at the end of the day.
That is the fake tree in the top middle of the above photo. In the foreground is the Village Green
The lake is artificial, created for the set. On the far bank to the left of the bridge is The Green Dragon pub
The tour ended at The Green Dragon with a complementary mug of beer, stout or ginger beer. I chose the latter as I was driving.
Leaving Hobbiton we headed south to Taupo where Carlin wanted to buy a couple of items for his canoe. Mid afternoon I telephoned the caravan park at Wakapapa Village in Tongariro National Park to make a booking for the next six nights.
The road down the eastern side of Lake Taupo is quite scenic and I was reminded this is where my parents had their honeymoon in 1950. Jan will tell you she never had a honeymoon. It’s nonsense of course. I tell her every day with me is a honeymoon! Modesty prevents me from writing more.
1 comment :
So pleased you both enjoyed the trip to Hobbitton, especially finishing up at the pub.
We did this trip several years ago, and had a couple of very avid American Tolken fannin our group who knew everything about the books.
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