Middle-earth Hobbiton Movie Tour in Matamata, New Zealand

 

 

Middle-earth is located on the picturesque Alexander farm, where we visited the Hobbiton Movie Set from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films in a  2 hour guided tour. The tour started with a drive through the picturesque 1,250 acre Alexander sheep farm in the Waikato region with spectacular views across to the Kaimai Ranges. It is a twelve acre site where the 44 hobbit holes were created and transformed into The Shire from Middle-Earth. Peter Jackson spotted Alexander Farm during an aerial search of the North Island, and he thought its rolling meadows and fantastic views made it a perfect spot to build the set of The Shire. The Shire includes the Hobbit holes, Green Dragon Inn, Mill and other structures created for the LOTR and Hobbit films. While Bilbo Baggins is on an adventure far away from his homeland of The Shire, we were there strolling through hobbit holes and had a drink at The Green Dragon.

Bilbo Baggins "Good Morning" Bench

These are photos I took on the The Hobbiton film tour of Bilbo's bench at Bag End where he was approached by Gandalf the Grey looking for someone to go on an adventure.

"Bilbo Baggins: Good morning.

Gandalf the Grey: What do you mean? Do you mean to wish me a good morning, or do you mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not? Or perhaps you mean to say that you feel good this particular morning? Or are you simply stating that it is a morning to be good on?

Bilbo Baggins: All of them at once, I suppose. [long pause] Can I help you?

Gandalf the Grey: That remains to be seen. I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure.

Bilbo Baggins: An adventure?... Well, I don't imagine anyone west of Bree would have much interest in adventures. Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things. Make you late for dinner!"

Hobbiton Shire - Bilbo Baggins Jumping Fences

 

 The last photo is a screen cap of Bilbo Baggins yelling “I’m going on an adventure” running and jumping over a fence during a scene from The Hobbit. The Hobbiton film set has many fences throughout The Shire. I noticed the fence Bilbo jumps has the middle rail located higher up from the ground then the rails on the fences I photographed.  I remember a different scarecrow from the Lord of the Rings. 

Hobbiton Shire, Green Hill Country and Beyond

The pictures above are landscape photos I took while on The Hobbit Film set in Matamata, New Zealand.  The second photo from the top is the famous Party Tree from Lord of The Rings, the third photo is Bag End with the Oak Tree growing on top of the roof. The shire is surrounded by rolling hills in the distance. The location is picturesque at every angel.

The Old Mill on The Water at "The Hobbiton Shire"

Bilbo Baggins ran by the Mill and a mile beyond to get to the Green Dragon to meet Thorin and Company.  The Old Mill was the water-mill of Hobbiton, owned and run by the Sandyman Family.  The Old Mill was a corn mill powered by a large water wheel. It lay directly adjacent to the bridge across the ByWater Pool and next to the Old Grange as well. The Hobbiton Movie Set is located at Alexander's Sheep Farm, Matamata, New Zealand. These are some of the pictures I took during the film tour.  ByWater Pool was very picturesque under the gathering rain clouds and reflected the surrounding trees like a mirror. 

Bilbo Baggins Missing Birdhouse

When we toured The Hobbiton movie location, I noticed several birdhouses made with various materials that made them unique. These are pictures I took of the birdhouses located throughout The Shire.  I wanted to show some different images that most people would not find On Line and show the thoroughness of detail that went into constructing and building The Shire.  Probably, only die-hard fans of the LOTR and TH will find this interesting but the scenery was gorgeous and I was in awe of the entire countryside.

 

 I liked this blue birdhouse located in a flower bed.  Bag End is located at the top of the hill.


  This birdhouse is located in the garden with a straw roof.

 

After we toured The Hobbiton movie location,  I reviewed the film scenes of The Shire and noticed that at Bag End, Bilbo Baggins had a very rustic birdhouse in front of the window.  I took a lot of pictures of Bag End and the birdhouse is no longer there.  Instead, on the left side of Bag End is a smaller round birdhouse that was not in the movie.

The Hobbit screen cap with Rustic Birdhouse behind Bilbo (my edit).

 

Front view of Bag End at the Hobbiton Movie Location on Alexander Farm outside of Matamata.  A birdhouse is located on the left side which has a different design.  This is a movie trivial point but why did they remove the birdhouse?