Cruise Day 16 - Tauranga and Hobbiton

18.01.2026 - 18.01.2026

Docked Port Tauranga 0800 hrs. The wether is the worst of the cruise and doesn't promise better.

Arrival at Tauranga

Statue of a Maori fisherman

NZ is very green as it should be with all the rain

I think she is ovrerloaded

Crappy graphics of our position

Tauranga is a major port and pine timber is a major export. It is plantation pine - pinus radiata

Hobbiton

We are booked on an excursion to Hobbiton. Might as well seeing that we are her in Tauranga where they filmed the movies. After 1 hr coach trip, we arrived at the carpark of the Hobbiton Movie set. It was crazy with people. They were very well organised. Xi Jin Ping should emply them to organise his troops for the invasion of Taiwan.

We had to board their bus with their guide. A bus departs every 10 mins and they were going non-stop. There is a method to their madness. By staggering the groups, it allowed an orderly flow through of people which meant that there were more opportunities for photography without too much photo-bombing.

Hobbiton (or Hobbit Town) is the actual set where they filmed the movies. The guide had numerous stories of the expense Peter Jackson incur trying to get a very short (often just seconds) length of film. One of the actors could not come to Tauranga as he was unwell, so PJ just flew the props and set to London to film 15 seconds with him! No wonder the movie cost blew out. Good thing the movies were popular and they made money. The attention to detail was amazing. Anyway, I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

Welcome to Hobbiton - Shire's Rest (the Reception, Cafe and Shop)

Hobbiton movie set is built on a working sheep and cattle farm. The farmer has certainly capitalized on it! He would be making much more on the tourism than the farming. It is a very beautiful place with green rolling hills.

The Americans going crazy foir the merch. They love merch. Their homes must be chock full of shit

Got to the cafe before the yanks who were preoccupied with the merch

Sheep wandering on the road - bloody stupid things

This cheeky sparrow is waiting for crumbs

A conga line of sheep heading into the hills

Lots of rules

Pictures of hobbit Holes (houses) - must have got the idea from the tele tubbies. Come to think of it, the architect who designed the Parliament house in Canberra must be mega fan of the Tele tubbies. My favourite is thinky whinky

Useful road signs

The place is one giant garden - not all the plants and stuff is real though

Paul our French Guide. Very french accent - like watching episodes of 'allo 'allo

You can imagine yourself in Middle Earth

Random tourist

That big tree on the hill is artificial. Apparently they had to glue thousands of leaves. It is so real that there are acrtually bird's nests in it

These are props - look so real!

Our group (except me) listening intently to the French guide. It was drizzling on and off

The competitors - Bet they are from the Amazara Pursuit - look at the matching umbrellas

Hobbit hives

I have a thing for rustic farm gates - black and white for arty shots

hobbit holes from a far

Beautiful green rolling hills - I am going to watch the movies again to see the scenes

Hobbit Smoke House

Fishmonger

Lots of apple trees laiden with fruit

Beautiful flowers everywhere

Hobbit windows

What a beautiful scene

The Mill in the distance

Thistle

Same random tourist

Rustic fencing

Weird trees

This Chinese woman had her English husband by the balls. She selects his food and tells him what to do all the time. Might as well have a collar and a lead

Hobbit sprinklers

woodwork shop

Pear tree - full of fruit

hobbit lamp - should be LED

They have also recreated a hobbit hole (house) for visitors to experience. Low ceilings, everything inside made for midgets. The tall timbers risk serious head injuries. With the duty of care, bike helmets should have been provided. It was quaint and cute and would delight kids and hardcore LOTR fans.

I think this is a family home - 2 adults and 2 kids

Living room

Walk in pantry

Bathroom with an antique bath

Kitchen with wood stove

Bedroom

Very nice window seat

Testing out the chairs - need to shrink your butt or you will never get off the chair

Beer supply

Open fire place in the front room

Master bedroom where hobbits do what hobbits do

Bunk beds for the little hobbits (or are they called hibbits?)

Another window crook for an office desk

Hobbit loo

Pickled veggies

That washing machine looks like hard work

Trying out the beds - pretty comfy but most people will have their heels hanging off the end

That looks like a durian - I didn't think that there were any Asian hobbits. We are already short!

Random tourist via the window

Recipe book

Then we ended up in the Green Dragon pub as in the movies. They give you a drink - alcoholic cider, stout and beer, non alco ginger beer. Very beautiful grounds. Americans going crazy about the merch.

Small lake outside the pub

The Mill - with water wheel

The supply wagon

The Green Dragon

The Town of Matamata

Then it was a short drive to the town of Matamata for lunch at an Italian restaurant - Ostera. It was a buffet of pasta and salads and it was actually very good. It was the best tour bus lunch we have had. Neat town but doesn't seem to have too many people. The region is agricultural with sheep and cattle. There is also quite a few stud farms with a strong horse racing background.

Empty streets of Matamata

Just like Bunbury, they like to have monuments on their roundabouts.

Fabulous statue of horse and jockey. I think NZ horses have won the Melbourne Cup on quite a few occasions

Nice building - law office I think

Pulling off the Azamara

We were docked next to the Azamara Pursuit. This is a smaller and older cruise ship. I was up on deck just in time to watch the tugs pull the Pursuit off the dock and get it on its way. Very interesting process. Those tugs sure has some horsepower!

joystick controls - the kids would be naturals at it

Last view of the harbour from the dock

Then it was back to the boat. They have laid out our suitcases. It is a not so subtle hint to start packing as we had to place the packed cases outside our cabin by 2300 hrs. We have to vacate the cabin by 0800 hrs tomorrow. I think that that is a bit rushed but they have to get the cabins ready for the next lot of passengers who will board by 1400 hrs.

Had our last fine dining. Back to cheese on toast next week! We will have a whole day in Auckland tomorrow. More then...