Hobbits:    A fictional, diminutive, humanoid race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth.   Thank you Mr. Tolkien.   

Matamata is the site Kiwi director Peter Jackson chose from an airplane to be the location of Middle-earth .    Selected for its lake on which the Green Lantern Inn and mill would be situated and for its hill on which the oak tree overlooking Bag End would be rooted.      The rancher who owned the land fell into gold that day.      

The NZ government offered up the army to help build the road infrastructure to get to the location for the Lord of the Rings movie and months were spent bringing Middle-earth to life.  Somewhere I read where over 160,000 visitors a year to this country cite Hobbiton as a reason for their trip – a good long-term investment for the economy.     

Over 30 wee hobbit houses pepper the hilly landscape of multiple acres, each made to a different scale to allow the shots to be "sized" to suit the perspective required with the variables of actor's heights and hobbits’ presence.   

Nothing is more inviting than round front doors, eyelet curtains, tiny three-legged stools out front and all tucked into grassy hills .    The village is complete with beaten gravel paths, mini clotheslines with pint-sized garments hanging, gardens, fruit trees with mini harvest ladders, fruit and veg (some real, some fabricated).   The actual pears hanging from trees have dozens of fingernail crescents from those like me who were checking to see what was real and what wasn’t.       

After the Lord of the Rings success in the late nineties, the site deteriorated.     When approached years later to allow the Hobbit trilogy to be filmed there, the rancher showed his savvy.   His prerequisite was that the site would be rebuilt with permanent materials, and a deal was struck between he, Peter Jackson and the film company to open Hobbiton as an ongoing tourist enterprise.      And so it was.    

The fencing, that looks wooden, mottled and mossy, was made from cement covered with a mixture of wood chips, vinegar, yoghurt and paint.    The famous oak tree was built from steel second time round, with individual fake leaves wired on .      When arriving a few days before filming, Peter Jackson was not satisfied with the colour of the leaves.    People on cherry pickers spent a flurried time repainting the entire blessed thing one leaf at a time before filming would start.     

Outdoor shots for all the three trilogy movies were filmed in 12 consecutive days, with 400 people on set, most behind the scenes.       

More than one in our party declared their vote for moving in.      More than one sighed when those round portals were opened to reveal themselves to be faux fronts.    An outside set only.