Hobbiton & Hamilton

25/02/12-26/02/12

Unless you’ve seen the Lord of the Rings films you probably would never make the journey to the little town of Matamata. Once known for the quality of the race horses bred there Matamata is now more famous for being the home of Hobbiton, the film set for the Shire-folk it is just a short journey out of town. After the original films were shot the set was dismantled due to confidentiality reasons but you could still tour it though the decorative hobbit holes where blank board fronts. Luckily for me a new set of films based on The Hobbit are being shot which meant that the whole set had been reconstructed back to its former glory and this time it is for permanent. When visiting it really is like being transported into another world, the set isn’t separated into parts but covers a whole area. All around you there are hobbit holes and gardens, each fully decorated with props and plants. The attention to detail is amazing when you think that for the most part none of this will eventually be seen on screen, if indeed it is only for a few seconds. After my visit I still had a little while to wait for my bus to nearby Hamilton so I went for a quick walk around town. I eventually arrived in Hamilton that evening to discover that an opening match of the Super Rugby season was being held that night at the local stadium so after a rushed dinner, I scrabbled down to the pitch to watch the game. Like most early season games it was a scrappy match which saw the local ‘Chiefs’ team narrowly lose.

I had one full day in Hamilton so in the morning I went to the local museum which included an exhibition entitled ‘Never a dull day’ about the history of the city. In the afternoon I spent a few pleasant hours wondering the Hamilton gardens which are located just on the edge of town. Their summer events program was in full swing so a variety of different artists and shows were on throughout the day. The most interesting part was the historic show gardens that represented certain historic periods such as a Tudor garden. After I followed the local river along its course back to the city centre.