Half Day Hobbiton Movie Set Tour // Tamaki Maori Village (Hangi & Performance)
After having breakfast at hotel, self drive passengers will drive to Shire’s Rest (Matamata) while coach passengers will be collected from their accommodation and will travel across the Kaimai Ranges to the picturesque 1,250 acre farm near Matamata where scenes from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies were filmed. Experience the real Middle-earth with a visit to the Hobbiton Movie Set, the bucolic setting for The Shire that featured in the Peter Jackson directed films, The Lord of the Rings. Your guide will escort you through the ten acre site recounting fascinating details of how the Hobbiton set was created. The Hobbit holes, Green Dragon Inn, Mill and other structures created for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films can be viewed and you will see how this beautiful piece of Waikato farmland was transformed into The Shire from Middle-earth.
In the evening on returning back to hotel you will journey with us to the outskirts of Rotorua, to a Maori village nestled in an ancient forest. There, after a formal and sacred ceremony, you’ll be welcomed through the fortifications and into the village. As fires blaze, the entire village comes to life. See and learn about Maori art forms and Maori traditions. See Maori weaponry displays, watch women weaving and making Maori crafts, listen to villagers tell stories of their ancestors and history, experience traditional Maori tattoo, ancient horticultural practices and so much more. Traditional songs and dances are also performed for you – experience the unique Poi dance, breath-taking harmonies and the famed, powerful Maori Haka. The Tamaki Rotorua Maori Village experience culminates in a sumptuous 3-course feast. Tamaki Maori Village Rotorua offers visitors an authentic Maori Hangi meal, steamed underground in the traditional way. Overnight at hotel.