One of the main reasons Cory and I went to New Zealand for our 10th Anniversary is, because I have been saying for years how beautiful the scenery in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Movies was and how I would like to visit those places depicted in the films. I was very excited when I found out that the farmer who agreed to allow director Peter Jackson and film crew to use his land for the site of Hobbiton, had also agreed, after the Hobbit movies, to make Hobbiton a permanent structure and would open the area up to nerdy tourists like me.
I assume everyone knows what Hobbiton is, but should you not know, it is the village where the main protagonist from the Lord of the Rings Movies and the Hobbit Movies, lives. It is a bucolic village where the gentle, short statured Hobbits, live in holes in the ground, work, farm and get into all kinds of mischief.
Regardless it was a treat to see this permanent set from one of my all time favorite movies based on some of my favorite books, written by J. R. R. Tolkien. When our time slot for our tour came around, I was so excited I was about ready to burst. Our tour guide first took us into Bilbo Baggins' party tent where we all enjoyed a great feast, with all the foods a growing Hobbit needs. It was interesting getting to know our tour companions. They were from all over the world, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Australia, and the UK, and most had an appreciation for Tolkien. After the feast we began the tour.
Our first stop was at a junction in the Hobbit foot paths, near melon and tomato gardens where the tour guide asked our group some trivia questions related to Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. He did ask the group whether all of us had read the books and seen the movies and astonishingly there were some who admitted they hadn't and there were others who said they were only there for the tour because their traveling partners were fans. I found this very strange. How could anyone not like Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit? And what rock were they living under that they hadn't seen the movies? Finally the tour guide asked our group what 5 words Bilbo Baggins exclaimed in the movie the Hobbit, when at this crossroads, holding a contract he had signed with the Company of Dwarves?.......At this point, I really couldn't help myself, I shouted, "I'm going on an adventure!"
As we toured Hobbiton, it was fun to see how intricate the details of the Hobbit homes were, from flowers in port hole windows in the ground, to chimneys coming out of the sodden hill roofs, to little details such as drying fish or honey pots to let you know what type of employment the Hobbit who lived there might have. As we walked we noticed native New Zealand species of animals such as Pukekos, some transplanted species such as ring neck pheasants, and other more universal species like Cormorants. This cormorant was cool though, it thrashed in the water a bit, which is how we noticed it and as we watched it pulled and eel from the small lake around which Hobbiton is built. That was fun. The tour guide explained to us that the film makers hired falconers and our huntsman and dogs to run out the local wildlife as they were not depicted or described in the Lord of the Rings books and therefore could not be in the movies.
The Hobbit homes, are just facades really. Hobbiton was meant to be an exterior set for the village, all interior Hobbit home sets such as Bilbo Baggins' kitchen is located in sound stages in Wellington, New Zealand where they filmed most of the indoors portions of the movies. But it was still cool to stand in the door ways of the Hobbit homes and feel as if we were truly in the village.
As we made our way over the bridge near the mill, on our way to the famous Green Dragon Pub, we noticed some posted signs that gave even more realism to the surrounding scenery. Check out some of the funny advertisements in these signs.
Finally our tour ended as we entered the Green Dragon Pub for a nice cool draught. Everything about the preserved Hobbiton movie set was great, I do wish the interior of the Hobbit homes were built out, but then again I might have never left. I would have bought one for our retirement home.
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