Hobbiton

When we were planning this trip to New Zealand there was one thing that I knew we had to do - visit Hobbiton. Alison wasn’t so sure, but convincing her didn’t take too much effort. We even watched all of the extended versions of Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and Alison got into it, even jokingly suggesting we name our baby Galadriel. 

Hobbiton is an all-day activity. We ate breakfast at our hotel and headed out. It is about a two-hour drive from Auckland. It was an enjoyable drive through the beautiful green countryside. 

We arrived at the Alexander family farm where Hobbiton is located. It is a working farm in addition to being a tourist destination. We saw loads of sheep and cattle. 

Everyone is required to take a tour at Hobbiton so we parked our vehicle and found our tour group. We got loaded into a bus that drove us through the farm to the start of the film site where we were dropped off and began our walking tour. 

This location was chosen by the film scouts because it featured a large tree by a small lake - the rolling green hills were a huge plus. It really was the perfect location to build Hobbiton. They initially built Hobbiton for the filming of the Lord of the Rings, but when they were finished they tore it all down. When they rebuilt it a few years later to film the Hobbit they worked with the Alexander family to make it into a more permanent attraction. 

The level of detail is amazing. One member of our group likened it to Disneyland. That is an apt description because the theming is top-notch. As soon as you pass through Gandalf’s cutting it feels like you stepped into the movie. The detail is all the more amazing when you think about how little screen time Hobbiton gets in the movies. It is a relatively small part, but it is still such an important part of the story. 

We walked past many hobbit holes and Mellissa our guide shared lots of stories about building Hobbiton and filming the movies. There are dozens of hobbit holes. Some are big and some are small. The various sizes were used to force perspective in different shots to make Gandalf look large and the hobbits look small. 

We made our way past the orchard and the frog pond and headed toward the most famous hobbit hole - Bag End. The setting here was so green and beautiful. Everything is perfectly manicured and maintained. 

At Bag End we talked about a few movie scenes that were filmed here and looked at the giant oak tree growing on top. This was one of the details that was missing from this location when they were scouting out where to build Hobbiton. There were no Oak trees here. For Lord of the Rings, they actually cut down an Oak tree and propped it up here, but for The Hobbit, they built a fake tree out of metal and foam with hundreds of thousands of man-made leaves. It looked like the real thing. We all got our pictures and made our way down to the party field.

At the party field, they had actual games like ring toss and some wooden playground equipment. We talked about Bilbo’s 111th birthday, which was one of the more intensive filming periods here. It took 4 days and tons of extras who partied like hobbits to pull it off. 

From the party field, we headed to Bagshot Row where we saw Sam and Rosie’s hobbit hole. Appropriately, they had the most beautiful flowers in all the shire. Next door there was a hobbit hole that we got to walk through and explore. The level of detail in the home was incredible. The space was low so I had to watch my head most of the time. They had around ten rooms full of the most cozy things you would expect to find in a hobbit hole. Alison found everything to be darling. 

Then we headed around the lake and past the mill house to the Green Dragon. Here we enjoyed a beverage - I had cider and Alison had ginger beer (soda). They were delicious. Our tour included lunch. We had a delightful meal in the tent behind the Green Dragon. At lunch, we made friends with a couple from Latvia. 

After lunch, we took a few more photos and listened to a few more stories about the shire - including the one where they burned down the Green Dragon for the scene where Frodo and Galadriel see what might happen if Frodo fails to complete his quest. Fun fact - there are 2 orcs in front of the Green Dragon while it’s burning. These orcs are actually firefighters that Peter Jackson dressed like Orcs. They were prepared should the fire get out of hand, which it fortunately did not.  

Then it was time to bid the Shire farewell. 

We drove back to Auckland. Back at the hotel, we took a little walk around downtown and then had a nice dinner at our hotel. The restaurant had lovely views of the bay and served fresh seafood. Then we called it an early night because we had a very early flight in the morning. Our next stop is the South Island.