Matamata is a small town surrounded by farmlands on the North Island, 2.5 hours from Auckland and Whitianga, and one hour from Rotorua. The town is often overlooked. Historically, the town has been pretty affluent and home to dog racing. Today, the biggest attraction is Hobbiton, the reason I came to town.
I was there because the movie set of the shire is only 15 minutes away. In the town, there is only one building that resembles a house in the Lord of the Rings: the visitor center. I was under the impression that the place I went to for lunch, the Redoubt Bar and Eatery was LOTR themed, but I was wrong. I arrived in Matamata around 11 am from Whitianga, ate an overly expensive lunch at Redoubt, and then drove 15 minutes to Shire’s Rest- where the movie set is.
The Shire’s Rest is located in the middle of farms and is just a parking lot, visitor center, cafe, and underwhelming gift shop. But seeing as how the place gets 1,000 daily customers and 4,000 daily during peak season- it gets pretty packed. It’s from here you take a 5-minute bus ride to the set. Due to the high number of visitors, the bus is the only way to get there. This attraction is the top thing to do in New Zealand because not only does it appeal to LOTR fans, but many others too because of the beautiful gardens. About 40% of all visitors haven’t seen the movies or read the book. Due to its popularity, tours even get bussed in all the way from Rotorua, Tauranga, and even Auckland. This can create problems because if a person keeps jumping from one tour group to another, they might find themselves on a bus to Tauranga when they came from Matamata. But anyway, you get the point- this place is a huge tourist attraction.
The tour itself lasts 2 hours and is really neat. Not only do you see scenic views of colorful farms with pretty, but simple gardens in the rolling hills of remote countryside, but I was also able to learn about the special effects and tactics that Peter Jackson used while filming scenes here. One example is hobbit holes. The doors to these holes all vary in size and it depends on what/who they are shooting. If they wanted to film Frodo or another hobbit at these doors then they would use a full-size door to make the actor look smaller. Likewise, they would put Gandalf next to a tiny door to make him look huge. Naturally, I took a picture next to a tiny hobbit hole to make me look more of a giant than I already am. Overall, the tour was great. It was sunny and 60 degrees when I went, and while there were many tour groups present, it was by no means crowded. The tour ended at the recreation of the Green Dragon Inn where we received a free alcoholic beverage. I had the cider and I would give it a solid 3 stars. After the tour, we re-boarded the bus back to Shire’s Rest. Hobbiton was a really cool place but I probably wouldn’t go back there again unless I was with someone and they really wanted to go. Once is enough and there is nothing more that you need to see there. From Shire’s Rest and Hobbiton, I drove an hour south to Rotorua.
