‘I’m going on an adventure’….Bilbo Baggins

I woke up the next morning, still smiling. Again, we had a leisurely start to the day before I headed off to Hobbiton. I had booked to go on the Hobbiton tour before I left Australia and I have to be honest, I did wonder if I’d done the right thing. Two reasons why I doubted my choice. 1. The price. It is $120 for a 3.5 hour tour which I thought was pretty expensive. 2. I’m not really a Lord of the Rings fan which is probably the most important of those two facts, so wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy it. In fact at school, I took a conscientious objection to reading the book and so failed that particular part of the year. Sounds so sanctimonious, but in all honestly, I was just finding my feet at decision making and I felt the need to take a stand as it wasn’t in my choice of genre at the time. Dumb move but that happens sometimes when you’re just 15. Anyway, I digress.

I hadn’t looked too closely into what was involved but I knew that the hobbit houses would make great assets for some upcoming images I want to make, which is why I booked. My hosts weren’t coming as they had seen it all before and honestly, I drive people crazy when I’m on a photography mission, so I was happier going by myself. Yoli dropped me off at the Hobbit information centre in the centre of Matamata and from that moment, I was hooked. The info centre is a beautiful building with a thatched roof and looks exactly how you would expect it to. Buses pick you up from there or you can drive further out of town to get the bus from there. I wanted the full experience so booked from Matamata which is where I was staying anyway.

From the moment we got on the bus, the experience started. Driver and bus guide introduced themselves with the usual cheery bus driver banter and then as we got on our way, a video was played which explained the background of how the location was chosen for the movies and how it was rebuilt and is now a major tourist attraction. For someone like me who didn’t know much about it, that was a huge bonus. We were kept entertained all the way to the “Shire Shop” where we picked other people up at the gift store, then we were on our way to Hobbiton.

Arriving at Hobbiton, it was very grey and overcast but not raining. Our tour guide met us and introduced herself and we were on our way. When I travel, I usually take a laptop so I can edit photos immediately and post to my Facebook so family and friends can join my adventures, but this time I didn’t, so wanted to take some phone photos so I could still share and keep everyone updated. We were offered umbrellas but I had my camera, backpack and phone that I had to juggle, so I thought coping with an umbrella too would be just a tad out of my comfort zone. To quote Julia Roberts… big mistake.. huge! But more about that soon.

Our tour guide (whose name I didn’t catch sadly) was a self confessed fantasy nerd and obviously loved her job. As soon as we started, she helped a few other diehard LOTR fans recreate Bilbo Baggins running out of the village shouting “I’m going on an adventure” It was the exact place that Bilbo did it and she videoed them on their phones. They loved it. She could tell you where everything was filmed and was not just knowledgeable but you could tell it was genuine. She was honestly enamoured with the movie and the film set. I probably shouldn’t say film set because that doesn’t describe it enough. It really is a Hobbit village.

It was all so perfectly staged, so as to appear not staged, that at one point I saw a bumble bee. I thought, Oh wow, what detail. They’ve got a robotic bee. Now to be fair to me here, Australia doesn’t have bumble bees, so I had never seen one. Our bees are so much smaller and they move so quickly. This bee was huge and it moved so slowly and gently. I didn’t think it could be real. It moved SO slowly in fact, that I thought it was running out of batteries lol. Then I looked closer and realized it was in fact, real. I was fascinated by it. I saw others on my journey around New Zealand but this one was the slowest I saw and probably the biggest, so I’m not going to be too hard on myself for my stupidity.

So back to Hobbiton, there are 44 hobbit homes and a few of those were open to go through (with your tour guide). Little hobbit clothes hung on little hobbit clothes lines. Round, colourful doors and beautifully carved features and wooden windows were in abundance. Little market stalls of bread, honey and vegetables were dotted around the village. Tiny, curious little notes hung on little notice boards on a variety of buildings. Flowers and vegetables grew in their little hobbit gardens with their little hobbit tools and tiny wooden wheelbarrows were amazing props while random windows and chimneys with smoke coming from them popped up from the lush, unbelievably green grass. An old wicker fishing basket and fishing rod sat on the side of the lake as if some little hobbit had just left it there while he went home for lunch. It was easy to believe that the characters actually lived there and could turn the corner at anytime. Seriously, this is the stuff fantasies are made of. I was totally in love with it all.

Now, it wasn’t raining when we started off, but it soon set in. It was fairly light though, so I wasn’t too bothered. I don’t mind getting wet but I protected my camera by wearing my backpack on my front and holding the camera underneath it. Soon though, I was saturated while my backpack wasn’t working it’s magic with my camera. One of the other people in our group stood right near me with his umbrella and the rain ran straight off it and onto my head. I couldn’t move away as I was surrounded by people and he seemed completely oblivious or just didn’t care. I hope it was the former. Anyway, someone else noticed and pointed out another box of umbrellas just a bit further ahead so I grabbed one and continued on. Whilst I was soaking wet, it wasn’t cold so that made a huge difference.

We made our way into one of the hobbit houses to have a wander around and I wanted to shift straight in. Oh my God.. it was just stunning. All rounded tunnels and wooden beams with every room being furnished with meticulous detail. The kitchen fireplace glowed red while bread, pies and all sorts of goodies (albeit fake) sat out on the bench. Nothing was overlooked. Notes were left half written at desks, dishes were in the sink , washed and neatly stacked to dry, wet weather gear hung in the laundry. It was like the hobbits had just walked out to do some shopping and would be back anytime soon. Now I am the queen of making some piece of crap look okay in camera and to be honest, that’s sort of what I expected but that was anything but the reality. This was nothing like a film set. It was, to all intents and purposes, someone’s home. They lived there. They obviously loved it and tended it. It was quality, warm, inviting and personal.

We saw all the sights and the specific locations of the movie pointed out to us. It wasn’t much good to me as I’ve still not seen it. (but I will soon) We kept walking and we passed the most beautiful building on the lake which housed the water wheel. Right next to that was the Green Dragon Inn where Frodo Baggins and his friends drank. We were given a large, complimentary cup of cider and it was basically where our tour ended. We went back to the pick up area and got back on a bus to be driven to the Shire Store where there were souvenirs aplenty at surprisingly reasonable prices. I bought one or two things, had a quick sandwich and then boarded another bus back to the original pick up place. There were more videos playing on the trip home which meant that the whole 3.5 hours was fully immersed in the story.

I got off the bus a bedraggled mess where Yoli picked me up and I went home to a lovely hot shower. I may have been saturated and honestly looked like a complete hobo, but boy it was worth it. It was just amazing. It was worth every cent, so if you’re going to New Zealand and are contemplating whether to go or not, just do it. It really was a fantastic experience from the first moment to the last. But, unlike me, try to watch the movies before you go. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it more if you do.

Happy Hobbiting….Livvy xxx