With the release of the second trailer of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, I feel there have been enough images of the movie set released, like these ones for example, that I can show my poor photos taken a year ago without worrying that I’ll spoil anything.
So, consider this post as a suplement for the Matamata post. This is what the Hobbiton movie set looked like few days before shooting the Hobbit last year.
Picking up a chestnut from the pavement on my way from work today made me realise that autumn has really come. I can smell it in the air. Time flies, right? So it’s time for a sentimental update.
Autumn is my favourite season. This weekend we had all the colours of it. Saturday was warm and sunny and Sunday grey and rainy. I didn’t mind getting wet walking home. Of course, it made me think of last year. I missed autumn in 2011. From European summer I went to the end of Australian winter, which actually was warmer than Polish summer, had second spring in New Zealand and the beginning of the second summer after which I went straight back to English winter. Three winters, two springs and two summers. No autumn.
The chestnut also reminded me about a tree I saw in a park in Queenstown last year. It was November and the tree was blossoming. Here the nuts are already on the ground.
I feel that my journey continues after I started renting a room and living sort of on my own and not with my sister anymore. We had to move out at the end of August, because of our nutty landlord, so all the housemates decided to move on our own ways. Maybe I’ll write about it another time. At the moment, I don’t want to get angry before going to bed.
Yep, I can’t stop thinking about New Zealand and every now and then I read my own posts from a year before to see what I was doing on this day last year. It keeps me motivated, although I haven’t done much to go back there again.
And on 23rd September last year, I visited LOTR/The Hobbit set in Matamata. A day after Bilbo’s and Frodo’s birthdays. Hmmm… I don’t think I’ll do any harm by writing about my visit there finally…
To be continued. š
FRIDAY, 23rd Sept.
Matamata is an hour from Hamilton by bus, so I left Hamilton after 10 a.m., because Iād booked a Hobbiton tour starting from Matamata iSite at noon. At the Visitors Centre, before I got my ticket, I had to sign a confidentiality contract. I could take pictures or even record everything, but I couldnāt show it to anyone, even friends or family, which is absurd. But I think their biggest concern was about publishing it on the Internet. So, sorry, guys, no photos from Hobbiton this time. The ladies at the iSite couldnāt tell when Iād be allowed to show them online, maybe after the release of the movies next year. So expect an update on it in December 2012, right after the premiere of āThe Hobbit, part 1ā and hopefully the Hollywood bullies wonāt have any reasons to persecute me.
But Iām going to show you what bus took us to the farm where the movie set was about 20 min ride from Matamata.
On the way the bus driver talked about the town and people who were extras in The Lord of the Rings. Probably there are some involved in The Hobbit now, but of course she didnāt tell us anything about it. Itās a secret, which I donāt think is possible to be kept in such a small town like Matamata (population 7800 people, according to my guide book).
In my confidentiality contract, I signed that I must keep what I āsee and hear strictly confidential.ā So I think I can tell you what I didnāt see and hear. I didnāt see the inside of Bilbo and Frodoās hole, Bag End and I hadnāt heard before purchasing the ticket that itās closed for the visitors at the moment. I understand itās being prepared for the filming, but at least they could have mention it on their website to avoid general disappointment, because I wasnāt the only one who said, āOh, NO!ā when we heard that news. So my advise is that if you want to see the Hobbiton Movie Set, visit it when the filming is completely over, or even after the filmsā release and you should be really satisfied with your tour there. I was in 50% happy to be there (at least they should have made the tickets cheaper, which now cost $66).
After the tour, we saw sheep shearing in a wool shed. It was just part of the attractions. I always feel sorry for sheep and after being disappointed with the tour, it didnāt make me feel better seeing poor scared sheep being sheared. Probably Iām talking silly, but that show made me feel like a stupid tourist and I donāt like that feeling. Another attraction was feeding lambs, so the farmer whoād just sheared sheep for us, brought two little lambs and bottles with milk and I fed one. The lamb meat doesnāt taste that good after that experience. If I worked on a farm I think Iād become vegetarian.
Some people stayed for lunch at Shire Rest, but I wanted to go back to Matamata and have my lunch in town. It was after 2 p.m. when I got off the bus, so still pretty early and I had to wait till 5 p.m. for my bus back to Hamilton. I should have booked an earlier bus, because apart from Hobbiton, there was nothing to see or do in the town, so I just wondered around the main street, had a pie, tried frozen L&P at McDonaldās (I prefer the classic drink) and chatted with a girl while waiting for the bus. She had a cute laugh and asked me if I tried ice cream from Challenge (she used to work there). I didnāt and it was too late to go and buy it, because my bus could have come any minute. Maybe next time, because I want to come back and have a better experience with Hobbiton and remember it in a better light.
[Edited on 25th Sept. 2012: see the suplement post Hobbiton]
