Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Matamata
19th Feb 2009
Unfortunately, for the residents, aside from being prominent horse breeders, the town of Matamata is basically a one trick pony. Fortunately this trick happens to be strongly linked with a hugely successful film. Even more fortuitously this film is the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy and everyone knows that people who are into these type of films can be a bit obsessive. I can say that because the description includes me.
There is sheep farm a few km's out of town which was used as the set of Hobbiton which I wanted to visit and under the 'Dave attends a Neighbour's set tour in Melbourne' agreement, we agreed that this could be part of our itinerary. Before arriving at Matamata I had done my research and knew that the tour could be booked from Rotorua and had planned to wait until we had got there before booking it. However, our route took us inland and just happened to go through Matamata on the way which provided the opportunity to call into the i-site and find out the details. We managed to establish that the tour ran regularly and there was no need to book. Thinking more about this it seemed a silly idea to drive another hour to Rotorua and then have an hour's drive back to Matamata as part of the tour and made the decision to stay for a night and do the tour the next morning.
Our campsite for the night was called Opal Hot Springs and was attached to some thermally heated swimming pools which we could use for free. The site was OK but it had the feel of a previously popular place that had seen better days. It wasn't run down as such but it definitely needed a coat of paint in a few areas. After driving round four or so unsuitable camp spots (I am not sure why they were unsuitable, I was just the driver!) we pitched up in an area that appeared to be used by the 'long termers'. Most of the caravans had TV's etc and looked like they didn't move very much anymore. One girl even had her cat staying with her so we assumed that was her permanent place rather than a holiday. The positive side of this was that everybody was quiet and, according to the theme music coming from one of the caravans, was happy watching Coronation Street.
I woke up all excited about pretending to be a Hobbit. Unfortunately the black clouds, wind and heavy rain 'dampened' my enthusiasm. A quick decision was made and we spent the next day doing the well known pastime of 'b***** all'. The next morning was slightly better. We are not talking blue skies or anything quite so exotic but drizzle and overcast is no problem for the English. Even the ones that have been is Australia for a year! It may also have had something to do with the fact that we couldn't wait for the weather too long and I really wanted to go.
From the i-site we boarded 'Gandalf', a big white bus, and were ferried of to the farm listening to a mixture of local history and Lord of the rings factoids from our guide. There were also a few questions based on the film but despite knowing the answers we let the Americans have the glory. We're nice like that. If there was a prize involved I may have been a bit more cut throat in answering, but as there were no 'special Lord of the Rings Caps or T-shirts' to be won we were happy to take a back seat. After arriving at the set and being handed complimentary umbrellas (you had to give them back), we walked around what is basically a hilly field with bits of plywood in it. To me, we walked past Bagshot Row, up to Bag end, saw Samwise Gamgees house and stood in front of and got photos of the Party Field and Tree. I am not sure how the couple who had never seen the film got on as it probably didn't make much sense but to me I was practically a Hobbit at least for the hour we were walking round.
I must admit that to the untrained eye it was possibly not possible to see the hobbit holes in their former glory without the aid of the picture boards handily situated around. The set is now about 10 years old and the only remaining items are white plywood fronts that are the shape of the houses and a few sets of stone steps. Luckily the lack of original set didn't stop me enjoying the whole trip and opportunity to talk about Lord of the Rings for a while. I even think Jemma enjoyed it, or at least got into it, for a while.
I did learn a little bit of distressing news while on the trip though. After a number of years being referred to as a hobbit by certain friends (I hope in the height way and not in the big hairy feet way) I was told that the height limit for being a hobbit is only 5ft 4. All this time and I am 2 inches to tall (ish)! This was a revelation to me. All the way through Asia I was nearing average height but I have never been too tall for anything in my life.
The final section of the tour was a slightly random sheep shearing demonstration. This consisted of us all getting off the bus into a shed where a stereotypically farm looking man sheared a slightly confused looking sheep. After which we all got on the bus again and left.
After the tour a brief visit back to the i-site resulted in the purchase of a 'Lord of the Rings location guide' for more interesting detours while we are here and Jemma supplemented her ever increasing stamp collection (don't tell anyone)with a nice set of themed stamps. The theme being... you guessed it, Lord of the Rings.
The next morning we were up early enough to actually go for a dip in the pools. The sense of the place needing a bit of a tart up increased more at the sight of the basic changing rooms but the pools were, as advertised, lovely and warm. After our early morning dip we set off to Rotorua.
- comments