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. 

Tire Swings and A Coastal 'May Day'

 

The first day of the month of May is known as May Day. Warmer weather begins and flowers and trees start to blossom.  As I walked along Shores Blvd, the tree swings and boats were idling quietly in the breeze.  I could find the energy coming from the warm weather.  The cold fronts of the North is lingering with snow falls in Colorado and in the mid-west, but in St. Augustine, winter is over and sunny days are here with mother nature's vibrant colors abound swirling around my head.

Sir Thomas Malory (died 14 March 1471)
Le Morte d'Arthur


"The month of May was come, when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom, and to bring forth fruit; for like as herbs and trees bring forth fruit and flourish in May, in likewise every lusty heart that is in any manner a lover, springeth and flourisheth in lusty deeds. For it giveth unto all lovers courage, that lusty month of May."
(Le Morte d'Arthur Book XVIII, ch. 25)
In 1469-70, a man named Thomas Malory (1405-1471) sat down to write a book about the adventures of King Arthur and his knights – a book that indirectly gave rise to works ranging from the novels of Sir Walter Scott and the poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson to the Prince Valiant comics and Camelot musicals of the twentieth century. More information:

"How the Red Bud Came" and other Trees Georgia Hwy 82

Ga. Hwy 82 from Tifton to Columbus is the route I travel to my home town.  It is mostly farm fields and pecan orchards.  In March, the Bradford Pear trees and Red buds were blooming along side of Hwy 82.  New leafs were just starting to grow on the Pecan trees.  The visions of spring was worth a stop along side the road. The colors of the Red Bud capture my eye and I had to embrace it's beauty.

 

How the Red Bud Came by Kate Stephens
1853-1938

 

Once upon a time, the old books said,
A winsome girl in a Riding Hood Red,
Fell prey to Mr. Wolf when he searched for his bread.
 
But the books are wrong (as books may be),
For a strange thing happened, as we shall see.
 
Red Riding Hood did on a fair spring day
Visit her Grandmother - then, singing a lay,
With basket and flagon take homegoing way.
 
'Twas in woods Mr. Grey Wolf came on her path .
And his lips were curled in a wolfish laugh.
 
As the fierce old rogue walked hastily towards
The red-cloaked girl speaking promise-fair words,
(For those were the days when the animals talked
In a speech like to humans'), when towards her he stalked,
Stood Little Red Riding Hood fast to the spot
Rooted, eager to fly but daring not.
 
(Now what we here tell of those days of old,
Her Grandmother Tanager in carols has told;
Also Smoothcoat Chipmunk has chatted from the mold.)
 
And as Mr. Grey Wolf neared and snarled
in those far-away woods 'neath an oak tree gnarled
And grown with ivy, yet standing there
And raising its head in the glad sweet air,
Then came that strangest of things to see -
(Far out of the ken of you or of me)
For Riding Hood changed all at once to the tree
That now we call Red Bud.

And, too, suddenly
Her cloak turned to blossoms, which once in a year
She puts forth to tell Mr. Wolf drew anear.
A moment of doubt and a moment of fear.
 
Her basket and flagon (this likewise is odd)
Became the seed covers, brown silvery pods,
Which fall to the ground when the winds blow loud.
 
And this is the reason, the wood-folks agree,
That we now have each spring the cloaked Red Bud tree,
Who never grows tall, as other trees grow,
She loves her old child-like stature so.

 

by Kate Stephens

1853-1938

(Winds of Delphic Kansas, Woodstock, N.Y.: The Maverick Press. 1911)

A Fallin Fisherman at Sunset

RT Fallin loves to fish until the setting sun.  He probably fished all day and never gave up until he caught his supper.  His grandpa Louis Brown would have been very proud!

Poet Abbie Farwell Brown was an American author who lived from 1871-1927.  One of her famous children poems was The Fisherman.

The Fisherman

The fisherman goes out at dawn 
When every one's abed, 
And from the bottom of the sea 
Draws up his daily bread. 

His life is strange ; half on the shore 
And half upon the sea — 
Not quite a fish, and yet not quite 
The same as you and me. 

The fisherman has curious eyes ; 
They make you feel so queer, 
As if they had seen many things
Of wonder and of fear. 

They're like the sea on foggy days, — 
Not gray, nor yet quite blue ; 
They 're like the wondrous tales he tells 
Not quite — yet maybe — true. 

He knows so much of boats and tides, 
Of winds and clouds and sky ! 
But when I tell of city things, 
He sniffs and shuts one eye !

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?