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FILM HISTORY

"You really feel transported to Middle-earth when you stay here" 

Our farm has some tales to share. Throughout the years, numerous film productions have visited this valley—some filmed on our property, while others used it as a base for nearby shoots.

Stay tuned, as we’ve had three new productions this year that will be released soon.

 

In 2011, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey established a temporary crew village in the riverside clearing where River Song and Cascade now stand. Today, you can experience that same valley, with its cinematic history intricately intertwined with the surrounding landscape.

Hobbit film crew at night at Ripples Retreat

These paddocks, now home to River Song and Cascade cabin, served as a film crew village during the production of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 2011.

Both cabins in the valley at Ripples Retreat

We have now built two cabins here, River Song in the foreground and Cascade beyond. You can now stay on the site where the Hobbit production crew were.

Super Bowl Ad set at Ripples Retreat resized

Here we are in our bull paddock beside the set built for a Bud Light advert in 2018. Some of that set lives on in our cabin bedheads.

Cascade cabin bedheads at Ripples Retreat

We've incorporated these props into both our cabins, using them as headboards for our handmade beds and as decorative elements on the walls.

Stay four nights or more and we’ll take you on a complimentary tour of our farm

(excluding Christmas and New Year).

River Songs four poster bed at Ripples Retreat

We've upcycled a few of the movie props to decorate our cabin—like the sword and shield above the four-poster bed in our River Song cabin. But don't worry, even though they look incredibly realistic, they're actually made of rubber and wouldn't be much help in real-life combat!

Find Us

Private riverside farm stay in Piopio near Waitomo Caves

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Ripples Retreat

Trudy & Brendan Denize

1314 Mangaotaki Road,  Piopio, Waikato,

New Zealand

(+64) 27 826 8500

trudy@stayatripples.co.nz​​

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