It's official! Part of Sir Peter Jackson's movie "The Hobbit" will be filmed in Piopio in November. An accommodation person is in town making housing arrangements for 350 odd people in the area, so the word is out.
This is great news--more people than ever will want to visit Piopio, see our picturesque King Country limestone landscapes, and stay at Struan Farm.
Thanks Sir Peter, this will be a big boost to our local economy and little village.
I vividly remember reading the Hobbit when I was about 12 and noticing the similarities to the landscape around me and Tolkien's descriptions of parts of Middle Earth. To be honest I felt kind of ripped off when Morrinsville was chosen as the location of Hobbiton for the LOTR series, as I thought Piopio and other locations in Te Waitomo were more suitable.
Posted by: Craig Macdonald | 06/15/2011 at 04:01 PM
Thanks Craig, we're pretty partial to the limestone landscape of the King Country as well, so are happy about this decision. It will be interesting to see what is actually filmed!
Posted by: Karen | 06/16/2011 at 03:27 PM