Hobbiton

Just driving to Hobbiton felt like we were already in the Shire as we were surrounded by rolling green hills. It was also a misty morning which made it even more exciting. Its a guided tour so we were ushered on to a bus which took us down to the movie set. Our bus driver, despite not looking old enough to drive, was very cheerful and gave us some random facts. The Farm where Hobbiton is located is still a fully working sheep and cattle farm however none of the sheep appeared in the movies. This is because Peter Jackson thought that they looked too modern so he used an old English breed of sheep instead. One thing that we learnt as the tour progressed is that PJ was nothing less than a perfectionist. His attention to detail is incredible, even down to the trees in Hobbiton.

Once we were by the movie set, we jumped off the bus and the tour continued on foot with our lovely guide Becca. The set is absolutely incredible. There are 44 hobbit holes in total however nearly all of them are empty shells as the insides were constructed in a studio. The exception to this is Bilbo's house in which only the entrance hall is constructed. We weren't allowed to go in that one though. The hobbit holes are also a variety of sizes. Some are small to make characters like Gandalf appear very tall and others are bigger to make the hobbits look hobbit sized! We walked around all of the hobbit holes whilst Becca gave us some more interesting facts. The tour then finished at the Green Dragon Inn where we got to enjoy a nice cold cider and beer. If you're not into the movies or books then you would of hated it but for us it was awesome! We loved it so much we thought it would be a good idea to purchase a souvenir from the gift shop and we now own a lovely tea tray. The funny thing is that it was Simons idea to buy it! At the moment it's quite happy living in the van but I'm not sure how we are going to fit that one in our backpacks?!Read more