The Battle of Middle-Earth
- Dec 27, 2016
- 4 min read
Location:
Okoroire & Matamata, Waikato, North Island, New Zealand
With both of us on leave from work, a free car courtesy of our house mate Ralph, and a new country to explore, everything was slotting into place, except money. In a few months, we will be leaving Auckland as we prepare to take ‘The Big Adventure’ to Japan, before going home for a couple of weeks. Not working, and missing out on money that was already budgeted doesn’t leave you with many options. However, it is an amazing opportunity to start seeing beautiful New Zealand properly. The only question remains, how do you make a cheap holiday, cheap? It’s simple, go camping!
As we left Auckland on our first proper camping slash road trip experience, the weather was not at all good. Far from the nice weather one would expect during summer from this side of the world. Let’s just hope it will improve for our Hobbiton tour later today. Not a great start, but thankfully the weather improved as the day progressed. It’s great having a car. You can go where you want, stop when you like, take the odd detour and experience a country the best way possible that is world famous for having the most incredible landscape. Honestly, I can say, it’s reputation is well deserved. Every turn we took, every kilometre we drove, we would simply be mesmerised by what we were seeing. What a country! What a road trip!
The great thing about New Zealand, it only takes a few hours at the most to get from place to place, unlike Australia where you could be driving hours and still be in the middle of nowhere. Before we knew it, we arrived at ‘Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel’ camp ground, which was recommended by our landlord, Gordon. It’s nice and cheap, with beautiful surroundings, of the country side and the sound of gushing water from the river below. I am proud to say, that my first tent that I have ever put up, stayed up, well, until we took it down that is, which is good going. Our little tent may have been the smallest there, but it has attitude! Some of the other tents that towered over ours were impressive. The Kiwis take camping very seriously over here, and why not. They have a beautiful country to enjoy a true camping experience.
The tent is up, now it’s time to make our way to ‘Middle-Earth.’ How very exciting! Like I said, the weather was horrible and miserable leaving Auckland, now, there is not even a cloud insight, just a lovely clear blue sky on a glorious afternoon. We couldn’t have picked a better day to visit the shire of ‘Hobbiton.’ Behind every dark cloud, a ray of light just waiting to get through. We arrived in good time at ‘The Shires Rest’ which allowed us to have a nice ice cream cone before the tour. Considering how touristy this area is, the prices weren’t that bad, which I was rather surprised with.
I have to pinch myself. We are in the world made famous by ‘J.R.R. Tolkien’ and his ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and ‘Hobbit’ books! Is this real? It’s easy to see why Peter Jackson picked here as the location for his famous movies. It ticks every box. No matter how nice the area is, nothing can compare to seeing a small Hobbit home with the iconic circle door. The detail that has gone into building this film set is remarkable. One would be forgiven for thinking that it was always there. The producer’s attention to detail even goes as far as erecting a huge old tree that is 100% artificial, with thousands upon thousands of hand-painted leaves that took nearly a year to complete. The tree didn’t play an essential role in the movies, it was simply created in case the camera was to point in its direction that something would be there to make you believe that you were in this ancient world. That is impressive. The next time I watch the movies, I will have a much better appreciation for the blood, sweat and tears that went in to making J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision a reality. After the final ‘Lord of The Rings’ movie was filmed, the whole set was dismantled and returned to farming land. When it came to filming ‘The Hobbit’ movies, The Alexander family, which own the land agreed only if a more permanent set was created that would remain well after the final movie was shot. Thank God they could see the potential! Hobbiton has well and truly put Matamata and its surrounding areas on the map. Our visit of the shire finished with us enjoying a locally brewed beer at ‘The Green Dragon’ pub. A nice, cosy place where one can put up their feet while enjoying the heat of the big open fires! A perfect end to a perfect day!
Back at the campsite, myself and Jason decided to go for a little walk down to the river and around the area as we watched the sun come down. We couldn’t leave with at least doing that. As we made our way back to the camp ground, we prepared for our first night under the stars. With no blow-up mattress, it was camping at a rather basic level. Something myself and Jason are not accustomed to, but at least we lasted the whole night. We may not have had a wonderful sleep, but we didn’t give up!
It’s only day one of our road trip and what an incredible start it has been. To not only visit a country that is high up on your bucket list, but to visit one of the very few film sets in the world that is so iconic and is exactly as you imagine, if not better. What an experience. The power of one’s vision and passion can create so much enjoyment and pleasure for all. Imaginations should be cherished not flattened, because without them, the world would be a very boring place. It’s that escapism that we all need from time to time.
The story continues…
By Andrew
Comments