The Shire.

Friday: 9 hour bus trip to Matamata.  Why was it 9 hours, Leah?  Well because we went all the way over to New Plymouth and had two stops, each 40 minutes.  

But I must admit...the scenery was beautiful!  I got to see the mountains!  And drive through tunnels and wind around hills.  It looked like Jurassic Park.

I bought some Starbucks in Hamilton.  You can be disappointed in me, but I figured if I'll ever by it, might as well be in New Zealand since it's price is actually comparable to everything else (When coffee at Micky D's is $2.70, you know it is time to give up.  Just. Give. Up.) (***UPDATE: another reason to justify my Starbucks purchase...they openly support marriage equality...BOO YAH.**)

Arrived at the Horse & Jockey Inn in Matamata.  Liz and I checked into a two person room...then we snuck Beth in so the cost would be less.  That's right, beating the system!  We took turns sleeping on the floor.

Saturday: Ate breakfast.  Hopped on the Hobbiton Tour Bus at 10:45am.

Soon after we arrived at the movie set.

Welcome!

Bilbo Baggin's home.

Liz is ecstatic. 

Path Gandalf rides in on?

Sam's home!

Lots of detail.

Oak tree above the Baggins'.  It is entirely fake.

The moss on the fences is fake: made of glue, sawdust, and paint.

Careful, you might fall through an unsupported roof!

New hobbit holes they added for the new movie.  We weren't allowed to walk by these ones.

The Green Dragon and the water mill...we weren't allowed to walk by these either. :(

I was very impressed with the whole set.  It was meant to be demolished after filming but yadda yadda yadda there was a storm during the demolishing period so it never got finished.  Then for the new movie everything was re-done.  So it is basically all brand new again!  These photos really don't do it justice.  It looked like hobbits really lived in the side of this hill.  Some were life size for the actors, others were very small so that when Gandalf stood next to them he looked bigger.

Here's a photo I stole from Beth's facebook!  Don't we look nice?

After the movie set we stopped briefly at the Shire's rest to see the gift shop and try some beer specially brewed for the movie.  It's called SobeRing Thought and it's 1% alcohol.

After the Hobbiton tour we walked like 2-3 km to some tower that was closed due to a wedding.  But it was a nice walk.  Took a few pictures.

Sunday:  Back on the bus.  Yay, another 9 hours!  And home safely just in time to do the dishes, clean my room, and finish my homework.

Boats on the horizon at New Plymouth.

No trains.  Just tracks.  They are close!