Hobbiton! | Matamata, New Zealand

Alex and I visited Hobbiton one weekend away a little while back. I thought I would write a little blog post about it!

Hobbiton is a tourist destination located in Matamata, New Zealand.

For those who don't know, Hobbiton is where The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings movies were filmed.

(If you don't want the movie ruined for you, don't read this post..although there aren't really many spoilers.)

I loved that all the windows had little ornaments and flowers and things in the windows! It made them look like real homes, so cute!

I was very impressed with the fact that these hobbit homes made me look tall ;)

So many tiny props!

We were allowed to go inside this one... it is not what you may think!

It just a small wooden frame and mud! :( I was hoping to see a real hobbit home.. but they were all filmed in studios!

Does this tree look real?

It's actually fake! Every single leaf was hand made and attached to the tree and then somehow shipped over to New Zealand. Peter Jackson imagined this particular tree to look a certain way in the movie, so they had to get it hand made!

Does this bench seat look familiar?

See that moss on the gate post?

That's also fake! Made from yoghurt and paint.

Beautifully kept and decorated

Never too old for a swing!

Cheers!

Hehe peek-a-boo

Ofcourse, time for silly posing!.. ahem.. I mean, hard at work!

A view of the entire paddock, those are the houses you walk past. There are 44 hobbit homes!

Alex was pretty pleased with himself for finding a leaf off the fake tree.

At $75 per person for entry PLUS the very long distance you have to travel to get to this place, I really didn't think it was worth it at all.

But hey, for some die-hard fans out there, it may be perfect!

You get a "free" drink at the end and the pub and busses take you to and from the farm to the carpark. 

The tour takes around 2 hours to walk around the park and stop for your drink at the pub. However, depending on where you are coming from, I would allow a full day considering the drive to and from the Hobbiton site.

Hope you liked the pictures :)

Ta ta for now!

xx

Blenheim, NZ! | A mini holiday - Photo Diary

  Here is a very photo heavy blog post about my little trip to Blenheim, New Zealand!

Auckland!

The view from my window on the plane, waiting to be taxied out onto the run way!

Approx 1 hour flight Auckland to Wellington.

Up in the air! A beautiful view of the North Island of New Zealand. Such a beautiful day to be flying out.

These amazing pieces of art are hanging from the ceiling at Wellington Airport!

Recognise them?

The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings maybe??

The Weta workshop is located in Wellington, which is where these amazing pieces are created! (I think)

I couldn't get over how life like Gollum looked!! The veins, the skin, the wrinkles, the face it all looked soo real!

I just couldn't stop staring at it.

The size of it was just soo unbelievable. He stretched right out across the food court and it felt like you were actually looking face to face at him.

If you cant tell from my photos, there is a bit of a scene set up with fish in front of him and he is stretching out to grab one. The detail is so good that you can actually see a determined yet playful look on his face.

The boarding gate! Note the temperature; that was probably the warmest temperature for the entire weekend! One night it got to -4 degrees! (Celsius) You will see more pictures below in regards to that...

The weather decided to pack in and turn to rubbish just as it was about time to leave Wellington. :(

...Meanwhile in Auckland it was still hot and sunny.

That teeeeny tiny little plane to the left.. that's the one that took me from Wellington to Blenheim..

This isn't the clearest pic, but the plane had a one seat row, and skinny little isle and another one seat row. Talk about nerve racking! 

I did feel very safe though and it was incredibly entertaining being able to see into the cockpit and watch the pilots press the thousands of little buttons.

Wellington to Blenheim, approx 30mins

This was the next morning after a very chilly -4 degree night! Ice on the car!! 

I keep my car in a garage in Auckland so I've never experienced ice on my car, but boy was it freezing!! We definitely don't get this cold up North!

Samara throwing water on the windscreen.. it iced over pretty much straight away..

Frost on the grass! The park where Samara lives.

Time for selfies before breakfast!

Delicious French toast for breakfast at Samara's work before heading out to Nelson.

Trying to warm up with a cup of tea!

I have never worn so many layers in my life!

The beautiful scenery of Blenheim

Driving into heavy fog!

Time for more selfies!

errm..That's enough of that!

I found these in the glove box.. so what does one do with Christmas CD's in the middle of July?

Sing our little out of tune lungs out of course!!

Sushi and a hot chocolate after shopping.. Thats a good combo right?.. Well it worked for me!

(I also managed to convert Samara to being a sushi addict too! Win!) 

Leaving Nelson!

 I didn't take many photos on this day trip as we were mostly shopping

Managed to snap a beautiful reflective shot while driving by.

A few days later and we were in Picton!

I don't know why, but I just love this place so much. I always want to go back and visit.

I would love to have a bach (holiday home) here

The main street of Picton. All of the shops and cafes are on this street.

So pretty!

A little snack before shopping and heading back to Blenheim

Time to go home.

And a very tired selfie on the flight home to Auckland!

The rain catching the planes headlights when coming in to land. 

The photo doesn't do this justice, it seriously looked soo magical.

Well that was my little photo diary of my mini holiday! I obviously haven't captured everything on camera, this was just a little snippet. I had such a great week, I got to catch up with a good friend, meet new people, feel at home and part of the family at Samara's house and even got dragged out to kick boxing class which made it very difficult to walk for the next few days! 

Can't wait for my next adventure!