Hobbiton, November 24, 2025

 Today was our Hobbiton Day! 

There we are - in the Shire

 We generally avoid "tourist trap" things, but had been told this one would be worth it. We were lucky to get tickets because they were almost sold out and we had to get one that included lunch - of course a bit more expensive. And, what a wonderful day we had!

 

 Hobbiton is a short distance from Matamata. The day was beautiful with blue skies and puffy white clouds. It was a trifle too hot when we were walking in the sun. We took umbrellas to provide shade, a first for us. But, we are glad that we had them.

   The first thing we did was to board a bus which drove us through the 1250 acre Alexander farm to the part of the farm that has preserved the movie set.

The bulk of the farm is still used for agriculture with 14 acres set aside for Hobbiton.  

     Director Peter Jackson scouted the site for The Lord of the Rings. The first sets were built in 1998-99. They were built to be temporary and most disappeared, were dismantled or disintegrated. 

    The sets were rebuilt in 2010 for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. 

   The site has been expanded since the movies were made and more added. There are now 44 Hobbit Holes on view with two homes recently added for people to walk through. The tour group split into two, with half going through one of them. Our part of the group explored the Proudfoot bungalow where you are allowed to lie in the beds, sit in the chairs etc. 

   

Inside the Proudfoot home

Our tour took about 3.5 hours because we signed on for lunch, which was at The Green Dragon at the end of the 1.5 mile walking tour through the village.

   

It is all beautifully done. Our tour guide was a knowledgeable, self-proclaimed Tolkien nerd.

She talked about his humble beginnings and the effect World War One had on him. She said that he had based Samwise Gamgee on the brave and loyal privates and "batmen" who he served with in the trenches when he was an officer. 

Eating hearty Hobbit food at the Green Dragon

    She explained that New Zealand's farms have to commit to native plantings. The farm has planted 22,000 native trees since the set opened with more planted each year. 

   She told us that 40% of the visitors have never seen the films...and even fewer have read any of the books. But, it is promoted as one of the top sights to see in New Zealand, so....

   As a side note, Mark re-read The Hobbit this week to remind him of the story.

 

  Jess told a lot of interesting tidbits about the filming, most of which we quickly forgot.  But, one of them involved the "Party Tree" above the Baggins house. It was important in the first film and it had to be replicated in the consequent ones. But, as that tree had been brought in from Matamata, it was not possible as it had been taken away. (never planted). Peter Jackson insisted that it be replicated. It is made of plastic and steel etc. The leaves (over 300,000!) were made of silk and imported from Taiwan. But, with a ten-month delay in the filming, the leaves had completely faded. So, they were taken down and, in four days, 8 people repainted them and put them back on the false tree. The tree was shown for 10 seconds on the film! It still looks remarkably real, by the way.

    Our guide told us that there are six thatched buildings in all of New Zealand with five of them being in Hobbiton.

    The flowers are gorgeous, especially as it is now full-blown spring. They site itself is simply beautiful with the green hills in the background.

   

Mark outside The Green Dragon

It is an overdose of cuteness!

    We were with an international crowd of interesting people and we had lunch with two young men from Houston - one an attorney; the other an engineer.

    We did not expect much from the lunch, but it was actually excellent with lots of choices from hearty-stews, vegetarian options, salads and a lot of desserts. We both ate way too much!

Maybe a little bit bigger than a Hobbit?

Barbara at Bilbo's writing desk

Matamata, November 22 & 23, 2025

November 22

Broadway Motel - another great accommodation

And we have our own little fenced yard

Today we left Hamilton and drove a short distance to Matamata, a town of just under 10,000 people. It took us less than an hour. We drove through flat, lush farmland. The area is known for horse breeding and horseracing and we passed many horses en route.

We arrived at Broadway Motel early, having come such a short distance. By a lucky happenstance, the town was having a Cultural Heritage Day right across the street. There was street food and a full day of performances by people who have made their homes in New Zealand from around the region.

The Tongans led the parade

    There were performances highlighting Japan, the Phillipines, Thailand, Argentina, Zimbabwe and the Tonga people.

   

Philippine Dancers

 When we were eating there, we sat with a mother and son who had driven about an hour to be there for the son, age 13, to perform songs in Tagalog (Philippines.)  Rodeson Ferrer had performed in Los Angeles in a world singing contest and was a medalist when he was only 11, representing New Zealand where he has lived since he was one.

Rodeson Ferrer, age 13

      We heard him sing 4 songs and were amazed by his talent and composure. By the time he performed, there were not many people to hear him, but those who were there, were appreciative.

      During the Filipino cooking demonstration, Mark joined right in and helped to pass around the food! Of course he did!

      Afterwards we walked along Broadway, the main street, and found a Woolworth's where we got food to make a dinner in our lovely suite at the motel. We only paid $123 (US) per night. We have a kitchenette, a living room, bedroom and private fenced yard. We also have access to a communal pool. We are consistently impressed by the accommodations in New Zealand. Even modest places provide a fridge, always supplied with milk for tea. This one is definitely not modest.

    We got news that Otis arrived in Concord for Thanksgiving.

November 23, 2025

Opal Hot Springs

  Today was a quiet day. We had breakfast and lunch in our little apartment. After breakfast we went to Opal Hot Springs at a little motel outside of town. It was very low-key and not fancy. For about $12 (US) we got entry to two mineral pools where we basked for a bit and then sat in lounge chairs and read.

The Gardens of Hamilton, November 21, 2025

November 21, 2025

    Today started out a bit cloudy, but, by day's end it was sunny and about 78 degrees.

    We went to Edo, a nearby Japanese restaurant for an early lunch. We both had different ramen dishes.

     Then - off to Hamilton Gardens. There are 28 walled themed gardens. It was originally built on the city's waste disposal site. The first garden (roses) opened in 1971 to prevent a highway going through the site. The focus is not on botanical science, but on garden design.

Barbara showing the scale in the "Surreal Garden"

Italianate garden

     Hence, there are gardens representing: a Tudor garden, an Italian Renaissance garden, an Egyptian garden, Japanese garden, Indian garden, Chinese garden.

We were especially taken with the Surreal Garden and its whimsy. 

Tudor Garden

Chinese Garden

      It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon wandering.

November 20 - Glowworms and hot sandy beach!

 Today we drove over an hour to Waitomo Glowworm Caves.

Exiting the caves; Mark chatting with Stephen

The route was twisty and turny and we could not imagine tour busses traveling on them, especially as these caves are famous. (In fact, we were lucky to get tickets as one of the days we are here, there were no tickets available.) When we got there, to our surprise there were a lot of tour busses. We cannot imagine the route they took as we never saw any.

    The glowworms are actually fly larvae; in a word, maggots, but that is not nearly as marketable. Caves were known to the local Maori who buried ancestors in cliffs, but the underground river was first explored and charted by a Maori chief and an Englishman. It opened to the public in the late 1800s.

     No photos are allowed in the caves as it harms the glowworms. Their luminescence attracts flies that come in with the river. The larvae drop filaments about 4-6 inches long and the flies run into them. Then, the victim is hauled up and eaten. 

   The cave system is owned by the descendants of the Maori chief. Our guide, Stephen, said he has dozens and dozens of first cousins. Most of the people who work there are related, which is quite cool. Stephen described being able to play in the caves when he was young.

You can see the filaments hanging down in this shot as we exited the cave

    One of the caverns is sometimes used for concerts as the acoustics are so good and they always have a Christmas Concert there. The Vienna Boys Choir, for example, has sung there.

    We ended up on a boat in the dark (and silent) and stared up at what is like a Milky Way, but of fly larvae.

     After that, we drove another hour and a half, again on really windy and hilly roads to  Kawhia Beach. We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and ate by the side of the road.

    Kawhia is really off the beaten path, that's for sure. We drove through areas thick with huge ferns, as large as the trees. The green hills were dotted with sheep and cattle. We were a bit afraid when we saw the clouds rolling in as we drove there, but, when we got there, we had a nice sunny, warm (76?) day.

     When we got to Kawhia, we still had another 4 kilometers to drive which seemed long by then! 

      In order to have the hot water bubbling up on the beach, you have to arrive two hours before and after low tide, which we did. We changed into shorts (Mark), bathing suit (Barbara).

 

Kawhia is a wide and long black sand beach

  It was a pretty steep hike up the dunes and down to the beach which is wide and long. A few other people were digging with shovels into the wet black sand. Mark borrowed a shovel and dug a nice hole for us. It was not super hot, but definitely warm and

People digging holes

cozy.

 The people nearest us, though, had really hot water. We ate another peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the parking lot before we left and headed for home. We were out all day.

    We saw some spectacular new birds, though - European gold finch, European green finch and a masked lapwing - all gorgeous.

     Was it worth the drive to both of them? We're not sure. We don't usually visit "touristy" spots and Waitomo Glowworm Cave fits that description. On the other hand, these glowworms are found only in New Zealand. And, it was nice to know that the Maori own and manage it.

Waitomo as we exited the river

The only photo we could take of the "glowworms" which were actually pinpricks of light, not long like this indicates.

     The hot black sand was interesting, but maybe not worth such a long drive. But, the drive itself was beautiful, so..... I think we are glad that we did both of them. One thing we have noted - it is hard to get photos of the countryside as there are few places on the roads where you can pull over safely.