Out in the rolling hills near Matamata, there lies a magical place. A place with gardens, beautifully landscaped front yards and a beautiful inn.
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit or There and Back Again
I’m obviously talking about The Shire aka Hobbiton. We took an afternoon while in the Rotorua area to go and check it out. It ended up being one of the highlights of our tour of the North Island.
It’s the famous movie set that Peter Jackson discovered while on a helicopter. They built all the scenes for the Lord of the Rings movies and then they were all torn down. When it came time to make the Hobbit movies, they got all the necessary New Zealand building permits and made them all permanent structures so the Shire could be enjoyed by literature fans for years to come.
This was a gift to us from one of our friends and old coworkers. We were going to skip it because we thought it was a little too much money for two people who don’t even really like the Lord of the Rings movies. I was wrong. It was so cool. The Hobbit is a great book and we are both reading it again now. It was so cool seeing all of it come to life.
One of the most interesting facts I learned is how many people do the tour and have never seen the movies or read the books – around 40%. They go for the photos. That’s cool too because it’s a pretty fantastic place.
The whole tour lasted about 2 1/2 hours. It ends with a free beer (well, included in the tour price) at the Green Dragon Inn. Our tour guide was fabulous and just nerdy enough that she had all the information you could ever want. You can really take your time walking through the entire Shire. No Hobbit Hole is hidden. You can even go inside one of them and the tour guides insist on taking your picture.
Now here are a bunch of pictures from our visit to Hobbiton because that’s what the people really want.
Our Hobbiton Photo Journal
If you find yourself in New Zealand, this is a fantastic way to spend an afternoon. I would recommend the last regular tour of the day. It’s golden hour and you will get a beautiful sunset. They also offer a dinner tour, but I thought the regular tour was terrific and perfect for those that aren’t super fans.
Also, I would recommend reading The Hobbit to everyone. Just for fun. It’s such a classic story.
There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit or There and Back Again
Thanks again Jason!! I hope we are able to repay you with something equally amazing in life. Cheers!
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