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Yayyy, we checked out of the Auckland hotel this morning, picked up our 4×4 truck, and headed south. This country is absolutely stunning! We landed in the small town of Matamata, checked into the new place, and headed out to join our tour of the Lord of the Rings movie set for Hobbiton & The Shire.

Before I bombard the post with all the tour pics, here’s the ones from the rest of the day.

Trucking on the left side of the road again is always fun, especially since the wiper switch and turn signal switch are reversed. Lots of accidental wiper action today.

It’s been a few years since we drove on the left.

Random weird sight on our 2.5 hour drive.

Didn’t ya know, it’s normal to tow two big hogs on the freeway with your little car?

Happily everything is open in Matamata, and we were able to get a really good steak dinner tonight.

omg, finally a dinner that wasn’t fast, fried, or shitty!

Businesses in Matamata embrace that they are one of the gateways to the Lord of the Rings tourist attractions. This was our dinner spot tonight.

Tonight’s wacky snack was spicy hot Pringle, but keep scrolling for a photo dump of our movie set tour today.

spicy! 🌶️

OK, to the important things. If you’re even a bit of a fan of Lord of the Rings books and movies, you would LOVE to tour the movie set where they filmed scenes for Hobbiton, the Shire, Bag End, and the Green Dragon Inn. We’re not super fans at all, but it was really really neat! These pics don’t do justice to the absolute beauty of the countryside out here, or the details of the set.

Hike into the Shire set was so beautiful

Peeking out our hobbit hole

Overlooking the bridge to Hobbiton and the Green Dragon Inn

Shawn trying to steal the Hobbits ale

Dancing the maypole in the Shire

Bilbo Baggins & Frodo’s hobbit hole at Bag End

Chilling at Bag End

We’re fools of a took, and we always have party business

This is the only fake tree in Hobbiton, at the top of Bag End and built for the movie

Having an ale at the Green Dragon Inn at the end of the tour

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more updates tomorrow.❤️