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| In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. |
I had to go to Hobbiton while I was here in NZ.
I prepared myself for a lame tourist trap but I had a good time and thought it was totally worth the $75 admission fee.
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| The Shire viewed from the tavern |
It was a 2 hour tour, with lots of interesting little facts about the movies and trivia about the shire scenes.
I got to Hobbiton by 5, after hiking Rainbow Mtn and driving north through Rotorua to Matamata.
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| The Shire |
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| The shire |
I took the second to last tour of the day which was nice. I was in a very small group and the sun was just starting to set.
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| More of the Shire |
With the filming of the the Hobbit movie, the entire Shire had gotten a makeover and all the structures/hobbit holes were made into actual buildings, instead of the cardboard facades they had previously been. All the gardens are real and they use the veggies from the gardens.
It was very cool to see Bilbo's and Sam's house.
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| Hobbits Holes |
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| It's Lolo sized! |
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| Hobbit Hole |
And see the party tree.
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| The Party Tree |
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| The Tavern and Market from the Shire |
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| Wheel house on the pond |
I was also able to go inside the newly opened Green Dragon Tavern
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| Outside the Green Dragon |
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| Inside the Green Dragon |
and have a half pint (very fitting haha) of beer.
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| Where the magic happens |
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| Post sign outside the tavern |
I'm so glad I went. And could include Hobbiton as part of my completed NZ bucket list.
