Hobbiton

Me in front of Bag End! (Yes, I am a nerd)

After several days in Queenstown, we flew to Rotorua on the North Island of New Zealand.  On the way from Roturua to Auckland, several of us opted to visit the Hobbiton set from The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  It was seriously cool!

Peter Jackson wanted a location with rolling hills, a water source, and no power lines to obscure the view.  He found a farm near Rotorua that was perfect and contracted with the owners to use the land with the proviso that he remove all of the sets after filming.  When Jackson decided to film The Hobbit, he asked to use the farm again.  This time the owners asked Jackson to leave the set so they could offer tours to the public.  Here are some pictures from the tour I went on.

I loved all of the hobbit holes!  Some of them are full size and some of them were made 3/4 size to make characters like Gandalf look much bigger in comparison.  Most of the hobbit holes are just doors (the interiors were shot on a sound stage) but there was one that you could go inside (I'm peeking out from it).

For The Hobbit movies, Peter Jackson wanted some smaller hobbit holes in the distance to make the Shire more realistic.  They are only seen in the movies for a few seconds!

The sign posts are really cool!

I loved this water wheel!

After the tour we were able to visit the Green Dragon which is a fully functioning pub.  We ordered some ale and sat by the fire!

This was such a fun experience!  I am so glad that I had the opportunity to see this magical place!