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Nat and Beck Go Large!
We arrived in Matamata and were quickly transported by our guide Tina to Hobbiton, the set for the Shire in Lord Of The Rings. We thought we were going to go in the Hobbiton bus, but ended up in the more hobbit-sized minivan cos our tour group was only small.
The film set is actually on a huge farm just outside Matamata, there was seriously about 12,000 sheep there just roaming round the hobbit holes. Most of the set has been demolished, but there are still 17 hobbit holes remaining, and of course, the lake and the party tree and field are still there. Tina was a total nut who was obsessed with the family who own the farm...we feel like we know them intimately...and also Peter Jackson's eating habits...do you know he has lost 20 kilos in weight since LOTR?? She also had an aversion to sheep and cracked us up when she told us how stupid they were, while she was using words like 'ironical'! But we were in full geek mode,we hugged the party tree and got well excited in Bilbo Baggins' house!
Highlight of our tour was when the stupid sheep stampeded down the hill and had a sheep Hoff-off over one of the rocks in the village! Very amusing (to us anyway)! Have to say, when we watched the Fellowship of the Ring later on that night, there was a serious lack of sheep featured.
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