Wayne's Adventure (In Motion)

Hobbiton ( The Shire ) 2025

When Peter Jackson signed on to direct The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (2001-2004) he scouted NZ for most of his locations. He found the perfect location for the Shire on a remote sheep farm near Matamata NZ. He drove up to the farmhouse to inquire about leasing the 425 acres when the owner, in typical NZ fashion, kept him waiting on the porch for over an hour because he was watching a football game on TV.

He ended up leasing the farm for 4 years ( making the owner one of the richest men in NZ in the process). Over 500 men spent 18 months building Hobbiton. All the plants, gardens, etc were REAL. After shooting was complete, the studio had them pull everything out and return the land to “as it was” state except for a few concrete entrances to fake hobbit holes so the owner could not profit from it.

A year after shooting wrapped, T and I visited. The red ribbons from Bilbos birthday party, faded but still very much there were hanging from the giant party tree.

The owner was offering tours of the site. You boarded a decrepit 4 wheel drive school bus on a corner of a small town, paid 30 bucks in cash and bounced you way over terrible dirt roads and sheep paths to arrive in a field full of sheep to wander around. Welcome to Hobbiton.

So naturally when Peter Jackson needed the Shire location once again for The Hobbit and other adaptions he approached the same farmer. Another multi year lease. This time they agreed to “Disney Up” the rebuild and keep it as a tourist attraction post film. And they really did it up.

When I came back in 2025, they have a massive visitors center and you ride in luxury on special buses that play clips from the films. Every inch is redone in painstaking detail in the park. Gardens are real and unbelievable. It’s truly breathtaking.

Had very mixed feelings seeing it this way. Oh it was fabulous and T would have absolutely loved it, but now it’s just not as personally special to me. It’s an incredibly well done must-see sight, but not what I remember that made it special. T and I had a picnic under the party tree feeding the sheep our leftovers. Now the giant party tree is behind a fence so you can’t get near it. It’s also obviously dying and is 1/2 the glorious size it was 20 years ago. The ribbons are all gone replaced by instagram influencers.

So maybe better but not special anymore at least to me. But life moves on and new generations get to enjoy it now.