The changing face of Hobbiton

On my trips to New Zealand I have actually visited Hobbiton three times over the last few years. The first time was around 2009 when the village was still a shell of what it was supposed to look like today. The Hobbit holes were there, but not much else other than being identified as a farm. You could tell there were hobbit holes as there were a small number of white plasterboard type boards in the hills. These were used within the film series Lord Of The Rings. When I did the tour I was staying in Rotorua and was picked up from there to be driven to the farm. The pictures will show you what they were. Originally no one had thought Hobbiton would be a tourist attraction until people began turning up. Luckily it was never completely pulled apart.

The first trip in 2009 included a small meal at the café, tour of Hobbiton and then animal feeding. You could see the white layouts, the party tree and the lake. 

 

 

 

  Bag End Before

 

 

 

Bag End with sign

Bag End after

The second time was just before the release of The Hobbit: an unexpected Journey. Hobbiton at that time had been expanded and when I visited they had only just opened The Green Dragon to allow tours to walk past even though the building was still under construction. The whole location was exactly like it was in the movie. We were told that there were many visitors and many did turn up in costume. They even had Storm Troopers pretend to break into Bag End. The first time around you could get a photo inside Bag End, but in 2012 you could not due to restrictions and a fence. The tour guides now had buses that had names of the characters like Gandalf.

2012 trip there was no free meal, but still picked up in a van from Rotorua. The shop at this stage was still pretty small along with the tour groups.

The third trip to Hobbiton in 2014 was much the same as the second trip, but it was pouring, which added to the magical feeling of being in the Hobbit village. I do not know if they were picking people up from Matamata in 2012, but in 2014 you could catch the tour bus outside the Matamata information centre. The Information Centre is made to look like a giant Hobbit hole and several other businesses in town have artwork or a character from the movies somewhere. It was cheaper to get the bus from Matamata than getting transport from Rotorua. The tour guides give you different talks about the whole experience and you get to visit The Green Dragon for one free cider drink only available at Hobbiton.

The farm owners were extending the car park when I was there and the shop had already expanded when I was there in 2014. The council were also doing road maintenance at the same time. There was plenty of merchandise to do with The Hobbit. It was well worth the third trip to the village and there are plenty of locations to visit from Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit movies. You are able to purchase the filming location guides  from near any bookshop or some locations like Hobbiton or even the Weta store in Wellington.

If you do visit pack wet weather gear just in case, a camera with plenty of battery and money to buy all the goodies. The tour guides will take pictures for you. It does depend on the guide you get as some have a more in depth knowledge about the movies and the film location itself. Regardless of who you get, you will still leave with a great experience

Hobbiton Tours 

WETA Store