Hobbiton...

Quick subway pit stop for lunch then onto the Hobbiton set tour at Matamata to explore the shire. It was like all Annah's Christmas's had come at once. We saw bilbo baggins's little hobbit hole with the tree on top, the main party tree and village green where the hobbits throw a fireworks party for bilbo in the first lord of the rings film, the fellowship of the ring. 

There were 51 hobbit house facades all constructed in phenomenal detail. The set took 9 months to build and its location was kept a secret all through filming until the films were released, and only then was the location figured out because locals recognised the mountain ranges behind the farm where the set is. 

 

Contract negotiations with the owners of the farm, the Alexander family, lasted 8 months and some of the conditions included that all people and animals must leave the set at the end of each day and that at any time the family could come down and watch the filming process. Obviously since the film there was a huge amount of interest from people to visit the set and the Alexander's negotiated to keep the set as a tourist attraction for people to enjoy. 

 Peter Jackson rented the home of a family nearby during filming, who in return were told they could go anywhere in the world for the three months he needed the house. They chose to travel New Zealand in a camper all on the credit card of the film company. Whilst on the house Peter Jackson refused to watch any of the filming on a television and so he had a cinema built into e house of the family who returned home to find a free cinema room built into their house! 

Walking around the village was truly surreal. It was totally magical and felt like there could be hobbits sneaking around behind your back. Te owners brought back the original set artists after the recent filming for the new hobbit movie and had them build an authentic pub on the site. Here we were treated to a free cider to enjoy whilst we looked out over the lake.