AK: We’ve spent the day in the land of hobbits. We went to Matamata, about 45 min drive from where we’re staying (Anne & Pete’s B&B in Hamilton). In Matamata (a town of about 7000) we hooked up with the Rings Scenic Tours and they took us out to “Hobbiton”.
Two hobbitses in front of Bag End
Our guide’s name was Benji and he knew a lot of old trivia about the set and the filming. He also provided us with trivia of his previous tours and started out by asking if any of us were fans or fanatics. I don’t like the word fanatic, but I said I would probably be considered one, but I quickly understood what Benji meant when he said “I used to consder myself a fanatic, but that was until I met some of the people on these tours…” I am glad to say I don’t even come close to some of the stories he told us 
On top of Bag End with the partytree in the back 
The Hobbiton-tour cost us NZD58 each and we both agree it was definitely worth the money. The hobbit holes are there (for the most part) we got to see the party tree Our timing was great, by the way, they are performing contruction on the set to make it ready for the filming of “The Hobbit”, so there were a lot of plants and stuff brought in to shine up the place.
Construction for the new Hobbit-film
After the Hobbiton Tour we were driven back to the cafe “The Shire’s Rest”, where we got a sheep shearing demonstration before we got to bottle feed three four-month old lambs. Added bonus! Excuse me while I go all girly and say “They were SO cute!” (They really were)
Another thing that is such a bonus on this trip is the awesome country itself. Andreas did the driving today and that gave me a chance to enjoy the fantastic landscape rolling by. A lot of it looks like a changed version of Norway, like rolling hills with no trees and odd colours I’m not used to. Every now and then a palm tree is thrown in for good measure, looks very strange, but unbelievably beautiful. The plants are fascinating and the mountain ranges form a natural frame around the “picture”.
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Norwegian:
AK: I dag dro vi til Matamata, ca 45 min unna der vi bor i Hamilton. I Matamata (en by med ca 7000 innbyggere) stakk vi innom “Rings Scenic Tours” som tok oss med til Hobbitun-settet fra LOTR-filmene. Guiden vår het Benji, en veldig sjarmerende og laid back kiwi som kunne masse trivia. Han fortalte også masse artige historier fra tidligere turdeltakere og startet turen med å si “jeg pleide å anse meg selv som en fanatisk fan, men det var før jeg traff noen av deltakerne på mine tidligere turer…” Jeg er glad for å kunne meddele dere at jeg ikke er i nærheten av noen av de han fortalte oss om. Hobbitunturen kostet oss ca 240kr hver og vi er begge enige om at det var vel verdt pengene. Hobbithullene var der (nesten alle) og Partytreet sto der. Vi hadde forresten bra timing, de har begynt å gjøre settet klart for filmingen av “Hobbiten”, så de hadde plantet mye planter og jobbet med å pynte opp stedet.
Etter Hobbitun ble vi fraktet til The Shire’s Rest, cafeplassen, hvor vi fikk en demonstrasjon i saueklipping, samt lov til å flaskemate noen fire måneder gamle lam. Bonus! De var SÅ utrolig skjønne! (Beklager fjortistendensene der, men de var virkelig det).
En annen ting som er en super bonus på denne turen er det flotte landet selv. Andreas overtok kjøringen i dag og det gjorde at jeg kunne se meg rundt og ta inn det utrolige landskapet. Mye av det ser ut som en litt endret versjon av Norge, som åssider uten trær med rare farger. Her og der er det slengt inn et palmetre, ser veldig rart ut, men utrolig vakkert. Plantelivet er fascinerende og fjellkjedene lager en flott ramme rundt det hele.