Matamata & Hobbiton

How many of you have grown up on Tolkien, then marveled at Peter Jackson's amazing adaptation of those stories, and finally dreamed of visiting New Zealand, in that order? I'm willing to guess a lot of you. I watched the trilogy countless times, along with the blu-ray appendices, wishing I could have been part of the cast or crew on the journey in making that movie. Thankfully Peter Jackson and the Alexander family have enshrined the set for many years to come.

Mata Mata is located in North Island of New Zealand. We arrived by flying into Auckland, picked up our rental car at the airport, and drove to Mata Mata, about 2 hours south. Mata Mata is a very small town with one main street consisting of 2 blocks of stores.

The main drag is where you will also find the quaint and well known "Welcome to Hobbiton" sign. Congratulations, you made it to the portal to Middle Earth. We stayed at a little motel in town, ate at an Italian restaurant for dinner called Osteria Mata Mata, which was really very good, and got up bright and early for the first tour of the day at the Hobbiton set. We had the 8:30 a.m. tour, but the tour times differ depending on the season. I highly recommend visitors book the first tour since there will be no groups ahead of you. I also highly recommend that you book the tour online far in advance, since the tickets sell out early. Tickets are $84 for adults, and $42 for youth.

You might be wondering whether the steep fee of $84 is worth it. This is almost 4 times the entrance fee of visiting the zoo in Los Angeles, and 3/4 the cost of an entry ticket to a theme park like Universal Studios Hollywood. It certainly is rather expensive when viewed in that light. However, if you're a Tolkien and Peter Jackson fan, you likely came to New Zealand from a far flung country just to see this and wouldn't be asking this question. I can only speak from the point of view of one of those rabid fans, and say that it met and even exceeded expectations. The landscape is idyllic, and the ride on the shuttle bus is accompanied by the Howard Shore theme music and a personalized video with a speech by Peter Jackson.

Once you get there, you will find no shortage of lush gardens or hobbit holes. There were maybe 30-40 of them still preserved. The beauty of the landscape, the butterflies weaving around the visitors, the fresh smell of flowers - and you start to wonder if maybe these hobbits were onto something. It is, after all, no bad thing celebrating a simple life.

The hobbit holes and the surrounding gardens are remarkably well kept. A perfect place to call home.

Walking through the Shire, you could see what an enviable existence it would have been for the hobbits. For the particular hobbit above, don't expect a welcome tour unless you are coming on "party business".