Hobbiton

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

And that hole just so happens to be in New Zealand, on a farm outside the small town of Matamata in the Waikato. Which is around four hours driving away from Whangarei, where I woke up on the 16th of July. So again setting off early on my second major transport day in a row, I started my driving south. This time I was back on the major highways/actual motorways, meaning the miles went by faster, at the cost of less engaging scenery.

On the long way south I made one major pit stop, in Auckland, where I caught up with Olle for one last time before going our separate ways, for the foreseeable future. We had a really nice one and a half hour chatting and raiding the Warhammer store for the last “Miniature of the Month” for a long while. Then I wolfed down my lunch, hugged it out, and then back on the road towards my Hobbiton tour at 2 40 pm.

I made it, with enough time to spare to have a quick coffee and the last of my food. Then we were off, an excited group of around 30 people for the last tour of the day, packing into a bus for the few minutes drive into Middle Earth. It is pretty insane what they have made off this movie set, how big of a tourism spot it has become, and the fact that this is my third time here. Making this tour, apart from just a wonderfully whimsical and nerdy experience (especially as yes I was listening to the Fellowship of the Ring audiobook while driving), also being a huge nostalgia trip.

Jumping ahead slightly in the tour, three versions of Bag End, spanning more than fifteen years (2010, 2014, 2025)

We entered into Hobbiton under the watchful eyes of our guide, Nathaniel, first finding ourselves in the outer market area. A really cool detail about the hobbit holes here (and all over Hobbiton) is that some are to scale (so you look huge), while others are “normal” size making at least shorter people look like hobbits (don’t think I could pass along as one).

A more unfortunate detail, which we were warned about beforehand, was the construction work taking place in the middle of Hobbiton. Which had I not been there before would have been a bit upsetting (not that I had any other time I could have done this visit), but now it was mostly just an interesting challenge for the camera to not catch the big green tent in my photos.

Some hobbit upgrades

Then we ventured further up the hill, towards Bagshot Row and Bag End. But first a few more hobbit holes on the slopes, including the Sackville Baggins’ and a few houses which we got to get up close to. There is some pretty impressive gardening going on all around the place, and you can just feel the love that has gone into all the details.

Promise it’s the last nostalgia comparison

Then up on the hill for Bag End (which I gave you a sneak peek of before). It crowns the hill, with thirteen windows and the large (fake) oak tree on top. While it would have been wonderful to explore this place on your own, we were relatively free to wander around the general area our group was in. And it was a really nice group, helping each other out taking photos and such.

Bag End

By this time we were very much entering golden hour (remember this is in the middle of the New Zealand winter). Which on the one hand meant some absolutely lovely lighting, on the other hand this came in the form of backlighting of the main hill, making capturing it on camera a real challenge.

Then down the hill, past Sam’s house and out onto the party field with its great pine tree. Which together with the lake further down was actually the reason they chose this place for the set. They had unfortunately put up a little bit more fencing around the tree now compared to fifteen years ago, so no getting up close (nor entertaining the idea of trying to climb it).

The party tree (and yes I lied, but this is the last time, pinky promise)

The final stop of the tour, before heading down for a drink at the Green Dragon, was a new one. Just a few years back they built out interiors of two hobbit holes, and we got to explore them. These had just so much love and detail poured into them, feeling like true scale dioramas, complete with a live fire place and laundry baskets. Spent probably a good 20 minutes just finding every angle and detail of the life of a halfling.

Not a nasty wet hole, nor yet a bare hole with nothing to sit down on: a hobbit-hole means comfort - J.R.R. Tolkien again, slightly summaried

Now we were on the home stretch, exiting the hole through the back door and heading down towards the lake, over the mill bridge and into the Green Dragon Inn. Where we were served complimentary drinks (had a fantastic ginger beer), which I complemented with a very hearty scone. Then a cup of coffee in front of the great fire, and the tour was sadly over.

View over the lake and the Green Dragon Inn

But before wrapping up a lovely visit to the Shire, they had one last surprise in store for us. As consolidation for the construction work, we each of us got one of the ceramic tankards they used in the Green Dragon Inn. A tankard I vividly remember from 2014, and which I now got to take home.

Yes yes, sorry, this is definitely the last time, the post is basically over

And with that my time in Middle Earth was up, at least for this time. Only thing left was to jump back in the car for another hour of driving, to get to the smelly geothermal wonderland of Rotorua.