Middle Earth Tour Day 18: It’s raining Hobbits at Hobbiton

Middle Earth Tour Day 18: It’s raining Hobbits at Hobbiton

The day had come that I was going to visit Hobbiton and was why I had come to Matamata in the first place. This would be my third visit and the first from Matamata. The other two times I had visited were when I had been in Rotorua and from memory the only one each time to be picked up for the hour long ride. The first had been well before they filmed the first Hobbit when Hobbiton was just an early tour where every hole from Lord of the Rings were just holes in the hill with white plasterboard stuff. The first time they had provided you with a free meal that I thought I would get the second time, which did not happen. The first time they included the lamb feeding as part of the package. Last time had been the day they let you walk past the Green Dragon still under construction and they had rebuilt the Hobbit holes to their former glory for The Hobbit movie. There were still old signage from the original set and both times it was a sunny day. When I first got up I was feeling sinusy and drowsy like I had come down with something like a cold. Luckily the local supermarket, well one of them is right across the road from where I am staying. I was right on opening time too, which was lucky as I would have gotten there half hour before. Once I had my tablets and taken them I was ready to leave for breaky and hang around for my trip to Hobbiton. Something about the hotel I was staying at from the foundation stone that I had not noticed before was that in 1952 it had been laid in commemoration of being the first licensed Hotel in Matamata. I thought that was pretty cool as I did not know that when I booked online.

Once I had breakfast and sat around for a bit I knew the time was getting closer for when I had to leave for the bus and it would stop outside the information centre that looked like a Hobbit hole. I thought I better get my ticket sorted out as I had printed the online stuff and found that I really did need to come in to sort out the actual tickets. Luckily I had actually done that instead of waiting for the driver to come and hopping onto the bus without basic information either like an actual ticket and map of  Hobbiton. I had thought about leaving my bag back at the room, but thought against it as I wanted to walk elsewhere afterwards like to the Firth Tower that I will explain about later. I had my wet weather gear in it along with a book in case I got bored on the bus trip. I found the local Matamata heritage trails pamphlet that I think the girls got confused thinking I wanted the district one. The Hobbiton bus arrived on time and the weather decided to start changing too as it was starting to rain. Once we got under way it was explained the total population in Matamata was around 6,000 people and mostly to do with farming and the support industries. The good news is Hobbiton is well signposted for anyone to find as they can follow the signs up into the hills. The Alexander farm where we were going has white fluffy dots that are called sheep as its the biggest sheep farm in the area and the big black dots were Angus cows that are proudly sponsored by McDonalds. The other farms are actually all dairy farms now as they find it easier. This time around the whole area was wet and they were also working on the roads both the local council and the farm on the road into Hobbiton from the Shires Rest building. The car park was also getting expanded from when I was there last time. All the big green buses have names of the dwarves from The Hobbit though I never seen Thorin though I knew one of the older buses was called Gandalf. They really had expanded from when I was there the last time.

Once off the bus we went around the corner to the next bus where the driver and our guide would take us down to the Hobbitholes. The driver was called Mamma Kass and our guide was Sarah. She explained how Peter Jackson had come about that location as it sported the tree and the lake that were to be part of Hobbiton and had been spoken about in the book. The scouts had gotten to the farm during a rugby match with NZ and maybe Australia so the family was glued to the boxake were not explained as being part of the . Half time came around and they answered the door granting permission to look around. It was the New Zealand army that created the road to the set. There were contracts signed to secrecy and all that usual guff though it wasn’t until the sets had nearly been destroyed that the farm gained its first tourists who wanted to see the hobbit holes and then it went from there. They had been rebuilt and more added for The Hobbit movie and it still looks that way today well looked after. Once off the bus we all got our brollies as I was going to say I didn’t need one and then it began bucketing down. I thought at that time it was best to breakout my reserves and put on all my wet weather gear from my raincoat to my wet weather pants. Think others were jealous though my raincoat always seems to be friendly with many pics I have had in the past. The rain was with us the entire time we wandered up to Bagend and inspected the Hobbit holes and whatever was around. I do know the guide didn’t tell us everything as I had heard other bits from other guides from the last time I had been there, but it could also be the rain too unless the other guides were more talkative as I knew from last time there were many Arwins around the party tree and a Storm trooper. Maybe someday there will be a group in cosplay turn up as different characters from other movies or TV shows like say Doctor Doom or Iron Man even a minion or two. We were told about Bilbo, Frodo and where Samwise lived. In the rain the watermill was looking really appropriate with a puff of smoke from the chimney on the wet and cold day. The best stop was the Green Dragon where we were allowed a free drink of 1% beer that the actors had drank during the movies also known as sobering thought. The beer is only made for the Hobbiton set by a local brewery. The only thing I found disappointing though again the weather was that the four hobbit holes down by the water were not explained as being in the book The Hobbit or even Lord of the Rings. I did listen to another guide and he was explaining things way better though we did get loads of Wickeds from the guide. Still at least I got to see it in the wet and without the sun getting in the way especially the glare.

The rain was pretty steady once we got back to the bus and I did notice my camera battery had started to go down and I think that would be because I later found I had taken 600 photos while I was there. Maybe I should invest in another battery, but I don’t think so. The trip back to the Sires rest was slow especially with the road works and there were more tourists coming as it was a constant flow of people who arrived by car or bus. Then there was a little bit of wait for the bus to take us back to Matamata. The rain was steady and I was running around taking some pics of the buses and vans owned by Matamata. There were plenty of buses from other companies that were waiting at the carpark and it as like at Waitomo with bus after bus arriving. Also a sign said due to roadworks the tours were going to be a bit later. I could if I wanted to be there for a farm stay too, but I am not a farm stay sort of person as I like to wander and see things. There was plenty to see in the shop and I found The Hobbit guide books to be $45 and in town around $30, but I had paid $50 for mine at Whakapapa Village. There were maps and even bags with The Hobbit theme on them and they do sell the figurines that Weta make too like Bagend or even Bilbo the Barrel rider they are not cheap either. I wasn’t sure what to buy though I ended up with a Gollum shirt and a party sign that I can put somewhere like my door. I was hoping once we ended up in Matamata that the rain would be nonexistent or not even wet.

Back in town the weather had not improved and I was wanting lunch before I went anywhere else. Once I had that and taken a picture of a building I thought was interesting that was called Thames  Valley electric board 1921. No idea if this is significant to the area or not, but I thought I would head back to the room to drop things off. I didn’t think due to the weather that I should walk to the Firth tower today as it was 2kms out of town and I don’t think there is a bus service in town. I have seen school buses, but no other buses at all that I can remember. I thought I better put my pics onto my computer and try to charge my camera while I was there. It seems I had some people worried about an earthquake that had occurred around 50 to 60 kms away. I knew nothing about it and Whakatane had felt the earthquake. Luckily I had eased fears though I had wanted to visit Whakatane, but due to time an else where I wanted to go I didn’t have the time. There was something I wanted to do and that was to visit a bookshop and I found a Warehouse shop nearby so I went there looking at books. There was a range, but nothing I totally wanted to read. I did leave with one book as I knew I would finish my current book. On the way back I found number 20 on the Matamata Heritage trail and that was the Jim Gardiner Grove to do with a local horticulturalist. I decided to follow that trail from number one a bunch of trees that were the Railway Plantation.

The heritage trail is meant to be 5.3kms long and you can either walk it or drive it. Takes you though the heritage like the parks, buildings and trees in the area.  I was following it to see what in the area would interest me actual history wise. There were plaques and numbers that you had to refer to in your pamphlet about the number like the old Ban of New Zealand building that is now a restaurant or even Bedford Park that had been donated to Matamata in 1931 by the Bowler brothers Several old churches had been pointed out and the local primary school was also pointed out as being the oldest public building still standing though taking pictures of such a place might get you into trouble on a good day. There are two Centennial drives that have parks though I only ended up walking part of the newer ones as I walked to head back via the primary school not realising I had been following the same track from the day before when I went wandering.

I had thought since it was not raining that I had better get back to the room before it got too late and sort things out. I had asked earlier about the washing facilities and there is a Laundromat down the road so I can use that tomorrow as I wont be having a full day out and about and I do need clothes done before I head off to my next destination. Tomorrow I am wanting to visit the Firth Tower museum that was until I found it is only open from Thursday to Monday. It was open to the public as a museum in 1978 and was supposedly a watch tower of some sort when it was built in 1881. Still it will be a nice walk out there regardless and I think if I had walked out there today I might not have been in time as it closes at 4pm. I am not worried though I am hoping it is not going be a wet day again. It seems to be following me around this year like a puppy. I am not surprised as its something I did not really expect, but I think the weather had to be bad for most of a trip to New Zealand sometime to say that I had experienced the New Zealand weather at its worst.