"The Shire," New Zealand

        
   Pokeno and Matamata -- Before 1999, these fertile pastures within 50km south of Auckland are better known as breeding grounds for the country's racing thoroughbreds. Now tourists flock from all over to see the countryside that has become the Shire, the idyllic home of the hobbits in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

The photos above and to the left are taken near the village of Pokeno, at the threshold of North Island's  Coromandel Peninsula. The scene below is closer to Matamata proper.

These photos are taken with the Nikon D100 digital SLR and the Nikon f/2.8 20mm D lens.

 

  

New Zealand 2002

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