Day 7: Hobbiton

You just can’t avoid Lord of the Rings

This morning started off slowly. It was pouring rain and we had to change money, fill gas and buy some food before doing anything else. By the time we got going and were ready to leave Hamilton (a really boring city) we figured we won’t be able to do everything we had planned for the day.

We drove to the Matamata area, where Hobbiton is located. Hobbiton is the site where all the scenes taking place in the hobbit village in Lord of the Rings were filmed. Neither one of us is a LOTR fan (I didn’t even bother watching the hobbit films) but this seemed like a really special place to visit.

On our way there, it all seems like a miniature model

You take a tour in this private land of grassy hills with crisp and dark green colors that I have never seen before.

I can see why Peter Jackson picked this spot

After filming was done they kept the hobbit houses and made this place into a goldmine — tours set off every 15 minutes. The touristy vibe does not take away the charm of the place, you really fell like walking around a real life hobbit village.

Some of the Houses are 90% human scale and some are 70%. All are full of detail. All the plants (also the vegetables) are real life and taken care of by a team of gardeners who live on site. Inside, the hobbit houses are plain and empty.

The final stop of the tour is in Dragon Inn, a remake of the pub appearing on the films (the actual one was built on the same spot but was burnt down in the process of filming). We got a complimentary drink and sat by the fire to gain some heat back.