United colors of Hobbiton

Sometimes you get the best experiences when you go off the beaten track. It was a trip to Auckland, New Zealand for the premiere of Wicked — yes, the same blockbuster musical that’s coming to Manila on Jan. 22 â€” that got us there. But it was a spur-of-the-moment trip outside the city that took us to different heights, literally.

Just a few hours off the city center of Auckland is Matamata, the place where they shot the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. The latest installment of the franchise, still showing in theaters now, is The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. We left Auckland before sunrise, in time to catch the fresh produce of the farmers at the Matakana Village, then after shopping for some cheese and some chocolate, we were off to our day’s highlight — a trip to Matamata. The Shire. Hobbiton movie set.

Whatever you call it, it is what it is. The habitat of Frodo, Bilbo Baggins and his kind, the iconic scenes that were shot here, the hobbits that inhabited this place. The Party Tree. And more. This is a historical landmark for pop culture vultures. The day that we got there, it was freezing and raining. But that didn’t dampen our spirits to explore and live our hobbit fantasies. Yes, I know we have our very own Hobbit House, but this was something else.

Our tour of Middle Earth started with a drive from Matamata, onboard a bus that reminded me of Jurassic Park. Our humorous bus driver starts out the tour by saying, “Welcome to Hogwarts!” sarcastically referencing a different film of epic proportions. We drive through the picturesque Waikato farmland where lots of sheep abound. I guess these places were the ones who gave people the impression that there are more sheep in New Zealand than there are people. 

After a few minutes, we reached The Shires Rest, which brought out the geek gone wild in me! I was running around, channeling Frodo and some of the other iconic scenes from the film. I entered a couple of houses to see how the hobbits lived. The attention to detail — from the clothes hung outside to the tools that the character uses for his trade — is impeccable. Nothing was left to chance and despite the lush greenery, they even had to construct a fake tree in the middle of the set!

HOBBIT HOUSES 

The 12-acre site of the otherwise sleepy Waikato farmland that was transformed into the Hobbiton movie set features various hobbit holes, the Green Dragon pub, where I had a Sobering Thought (the LOTR local beer) and some minestrone soup, since it was a rainy day. It really felt like I was amongst hobbits. Even our  guide actually looked like one!

Looking around the Peter Jackson-discovered location, one can’t help but be amazed by the spectacular views, breathe in the fresh air and see, in your mind’s eye, the fictional hobbits that live in this area. “After filming, they just left the set, up for demolition, until someone pointed out the tourism potential of the place. So they preserved it, and you’re here now,” said our hobbit-looking guide.

How did this place come to be? The New Zealand army was contracted to build 1.5 kilometers of road leading to the site. Diggers, bulldozers, loaders, trucks, rollers and heavy equipment were brought in for the transformation. Choppers flew in the actors to the set and the magic of filmmaking began once the cameras started rolling. Thirty-seven hobbit holes were constructed to form this little village of little people.

It was so surreal to be on an actual set of one of the biggest movies of the century and one of the best-selling books of all time, second only to the Bible.

We got lost on the way to Matamata. But once we found it, a wealth of literary treasures came to life before our very eyes. Looking at the pictures and recalling the memories from this Wicked trip made me think of two words. 

“My precious.”

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More serendipity travels at twitter.com/officialtimyap and officialtimyap on Instagram, too! Wicked the musical opens at the CCP on Jan. 22, 2014. Call Ticketworld for tickets for the show.