An early wakeup this morning as our tour guide for today was picking us up at our hotel at 7:35 am. As we wandered down to the lobby, we took time to admire some of the Christmas decorating the Skycity. We hadn’t seen much Christmas decorating throughout Australia and New Zealand as it doesn’t seem to be as commercial in this part of the world as it is at home. Left us a little bit homesick.

        
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Finally finding our bus, we boarded and set off on our 2-hour 15-minute drive to our first destination of the day, Hobbiton! Driving south, we cleared Auckland, skirted Hamilton and finally arrived at the Hobbiton Movie Set just outside of Matamata.

In 1998, an aerial search led a location research team to the Alexander farm, a 1,250 acre fully operational sheep farm in the heart of the Waikato region. They noted the area’s striking similarity to The Shire, as described by JRR Tolkien. A magnificent pine tree towered over a nearby lake, adjacent to a rising hill. Bag End now sits atop that hill, overlooking the Party Tree, as that pine would later be known.

In March 1999 the crew began to build Hobbiton; help was provided by the New Zealand Army, and 39 temporary Hobbit Holes were scattered across the 12-acre plot used for the set. Filming commenced in December 1999, and it took three months to get a wrap on The Shire. After filming was complete, there was an initial attempt at demolition and 17 bare plywood facades remained. These shells would then serve as Hobbiton, with guided tours commencing in 2002.

In 2009, Sir Peter Jackson returned to film The Hobbit trilogy, and he left behind the movie set you see today; 44 permanently reconstructed Hobbit Holes. In 2012 The Green Dragon Inn was opened as an operational pub for guests at the conclusion of their tours.

      
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Leaving the car park, we walked up the path to Hobbiton past the pine grove, the garden and several Hobbit Holes ending up at the Party Tree.

           
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From there we veered off through the Sackville Apple Orchard and Gully Gardens. Constantly gaining altitude we were nearing our goal, Bag End.

             
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Bag End was the underground dwelling of the Hobbits Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. The oak tree on the hill above Bag End is fake. The tree is made of fiberglass and its leaves are made from silk and were imported from Taiwan. The leaves were attached to the tree one-by-one and whenever they faded in the sun, someone was paid to repaint each one by hand.

      
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From Bag End, we started down Bagshot Row, past the Party Tree again. Veering off, we took the Merry Meander down to the Watermill on The Water (pond).

             
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Crossing the bridge, we entered The Green Dragon for refreshments and a buffet lunch.

        
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After a great lunch, we were now at the end of our time at Hobbiton. Our group reassembled outside the inn. Once everyone was accounted for, as a group we made our way back towards the car park and our tour bus. When we were all on board, it was an hour and a half drive to our next stop, The Waitomo Glowworm Caves.

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves are known for its population of Arachnocampa luminosa, a glowworm species found exclusively in New Zealand. This cave is part of the Waitomo streamway system that includes the Ruakuri Cave, Lucky Strike, and Tumutumu Cave.

Our tour took us through three different levels which began at the top level of the cave and the Catacombs. The levels are linked by the Tomo, which is a 16 m vertical shaft made of limestone. The second level is called the Banquet Chamber. The third and final level goes down into the Cathedral, demonstration platform, and the jetty. The Cathedral is about 18 m high.

The tour concluded with a boat ride through the Glowworm Grotto. The boat took us onto the underground Waitomo River where the only light comes from the tiny glowworms creating a sky of living lights.

         
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The drive home was a brutal 3-hour exercise in endurance as the seating on the bus was cramped and uncomfortable. Finally we were met with a welcome sight, the entrance to our hotel. It was now 7:00 pm, 11 ½ hours after our morning departure. A quick dinner in the hotel, then off to bed early.