Hi ho Hi ho, it’s off to Hobbiton we go!
The drive out to Alexander Farm where the set is located was picture perfect with rolling green hills and grazing cattle and sheep, it’s easy to see why this area was chosen. The farm itself is 1,200 acres and is still a working farm, the Hobbiton set takes up only 12 acres so that gives you an idea of how big the farm is.
The 2 hour tour was very well organized and despite the number of people being shepherded around it didn’t feel crowded. It really was lovely to see all of the Hobbit holes and we learned some interesting facts too:
- The NZ army built the road and the initial set in 1999 which was demolished once filming wrapped up only to be rebuilt in 2009 for the Hobbit trilogy at which time they built it so that it would last for ~35 years.
- During production there were 600+ cast and crew on site.
- There are 8 full time gardeners year round tending the gardens.
- The movie set has 44 Hobbit holes but most are just facades, there’s only one that we could go into.
- The tree above Bag End is made from fiberglass and has silk leaves individually hand wired to the branches.
- The frogs were so loud during filming the actors couldn’t hear each other so they had to be collected and moved and reintroduced afterwards.
- Peter Jackson wanted Bilbo’s birthday party to be authentic so he let the actors drink as much as they wanted but unbeknownst to them, Jackson supplied a special brew that was only 1% alcohol. It was called Sobering Thought.
The information was good but for me it really was more about taking in the scenery and seeing this little make believe village complete with washing lines, chess boards and empty beer bottles outside the town drunks home!
A magical couple of hours indeed AND we got to enjoy a beer at the Green Dragon!
From Hobbiton we drove to the beach town of Mount Maunganui in the Bay of Plenty and arrived just as all the weekenders were having their last hurrah. It was rowdy and crowded and we weren’t sure we wanted to stay but the beach was lovely and the campsite was located right at the base of the Mountain and less than 10 steps to the beach so we grabbed a burger and a milkshake at the ridiculously busy Pronto Burger and mulled over our options.
While enjoying one of the best burgers we’ve ever had, the weekend crowds started leaving town and we could see that it might not be so bad after all, in fact by 7 pm it was a sleepy little beach town and stayed that way while we were there and no doubt until the next weekend.
Manguanui is a very affluent town, it felt similar to a SoCal beach town; beautiful houses and condos, upscale restaurants and shops and a non-stop stream of people hiking and running along the oceanfront and up to the peak of Mt. Maunganui for their daily workout.
We decided to join the locals and take a sunset hike up the Mount, it was quite a work out. It’s only 761ft high but it dominates the mostly flat surrounding countryside. It was a gorgeous evening and the views from the top were great in all directions.
I kept feeling like this place was familiar and then I remembered that I came here in 1992 but it’s almost unrecognizable with the exception of the Mount. In fact when we got home I pulled up a photo of me on the Mount in 1992 and there was almost no development in the area at the time, I guess a lot can change in 20+ years including me!
Our sunset walk gave us quite an appetite so we walked into the main town in search of a good spot for dinner. We were spoilt for choice, there were so many appealing restaurants we couldn’t decide but in the end we settled on a place called Flour + Water and tonight’s taste sensation was a fabulous fig and ricotta salad and a fine pizza all washed down with a Good George beer, then we meandered back to our primo camp spot at the back of the beach and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean.