Hobbiton and Hamilton Gardens

By Jen.

Next day we arrived for the first tour of the morning at Hobbiton. The advantage of that was at least there weren’t crowds in front of us spoiling the pictures (only the gardeners). The downside was that it was still really busy and they kept you moving. From what I understand, the original decorations were all removed, but the holes themselves were allowed to be kept. Then they got permission to recreate the scenery. So, while not original, everything is still exactly like it was in the movies with amazing detail. Quite fun!

Besides all the cute hobbit decorations, my favorite part was the flowers and gardens!

They even had the Green Dragon Inn, where you could get a hobbit-like drink. They were alcoholic or carbonated, neither of which I like, and Jonathan wasn’t thirsty, so I can’t really comment on taste.

The nearby town, Matamata, has embraced the Hobbiton heritage, even remaking their visitor centre to look hobbit-like.

From there, we decided to head to Hamilton, where there were some gardens I wanted to see. Plus, they had a cakery open on Christmas Eve, where we could buy a cake. Since we were away from friends and family, we thought we might try something a bit different and decided to try out the recent Japanese tradition of having a fancy cake for Christmas with your lover. We ended up finding one at The Cake Box, which had a lovely selection. We finally decided on a Lemon-Raspberry Gateaux, which had a very light texture and a nice blend of flavors.



Then, we wandered about the Hamilton Gardens, which has different sections which they use to showcase different types of gardens.

Traditional Japanese.

Traditional English, Part 1.

Traditional English, Part 2.

I think this one was Indian?

Italian Renaissance.

Fortified productive Māori garden, featuring kumara, a sweet potato introduced from trading with South America before the Europeans arrived.

It was fun to take a stroll through so many different varieties of gardens. I think my next home ought to be situated near such a garden place so that I don’t have to do the work and can have all the options!