Walking in the Footsteps of Hobbits

The journey to Middle-earth

Just before we set off on our location tour, Suzie shows us a quick video of the farm’s “Unexpected Journey”. The facts are quite shocking in how much time and effort is put into getting just over 6 minutes of footage! What’s more, Suzie was there for the filming of The Hobbit, so she can answer our behind-the-scenes questions. What’s more, she answers with passion, so it’s hard to not be absorbed in her stories!

We hop into the minivan for a short drive up to the start of our Hobbit location tour. Along the way, Suzie fills us in with movie facts and even the work they had to do on the land themselves to be able to run these tours. We don’t notice straight away, but there is the subtle noise of bird sounds coming from the van’s sound system.

Parked up, we start our Hobbit location tour. Oh my God, Laura wants to take photos of everything! The rugged limestone sticking out of the lush green grass with the backdrop of majestic cliffs… No wonder this place was chosen to depict Middle-earth.

Come at us, orcs!!

Re-enacting The hobbit

Suzie has folder of movie screenshots to help us visualise the movie scenes, starting with the scene where The Company arrive at a destroyed farmhouse. Although the farmhouse is no longer there, old fences, gates and a bird feeder still remain that were seen in the movie shots. In whatever movie location we choose, (which is all of them!) we get to do the actors’ poses in the exact same locations for photos! Something we can definitely post on Facebook to make fellow Tolkien fans jealous. (That’s the goal of social media, right?) Suzie even pulls out a hidden replica of Sting the sword under the leaves, when needed in one iconic movie location, and a plastic bag to sit on a damp bench from the rain. Wow, this lady has thought of everything!

After seeing about five different Hobbit film shots in this area, we head into the forest. New Zealand is often described as having a diverse landscape, but the Denzie Farm is such an exaggeration of that, as the next moment we are in such a dense variety of vegetation. A huge rock protrudes from the ground creating a little shelter underneath. Suzie doesn’t need to tell us what scene this is from. This is the exit of the cave where the swords including Sting was found!

Further into the forest, we see some locations where the mad Radagast the Brown makes an entrance. Plus, where the Wargs begin their attack on The Company in the forest.

Wargs and orcs

It’s just a short walk to our next location. While Suzie gets the van, we follow the gravel track to the final Hobbit filming location, but Laura and Rico fall behind taking photos of such a beautiful area. There are photo opportunities everywhere. Even if you are not a Hobbit fan, these unusual fossil-filled rock formations mixed with magnificent trees are even an attraction in itself. Suzie catches Laura and Rico up in the van asking if we want a lift to the end of the track, but, honestly, we want to soak up every last second of this walk, so we happily decline her offer and catch the rest of the group up in a couple more minutes.

The last location depicts parts of those famous scenes where the Orcs and Warg attack The Company, chasing them all the way to a hidden entrance to Rivendell. From here, our tour ends with some last glimpses of the beautiful farmland from the minivan driving back down to the Hairy Feet base. The rain picks up and creates a rainbow in the distance again. My God, this place is killing us!

Heading to Piopio

We have a final natter with Suzie in the Hairy Feet shop. Laura picks up an Elvin broach for her brother that he has been begging her to get from Middle-earth, New Zealand. Suzie gives us a heads up where we can park our campervan for a $2 donation at the Tui St P.O.P (Park Overnight Property) in Piopio. So helpful!

Check us out tomorrow, where for once in our lives, we don’t know what activity we are doing! See you then!