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  • Day 484

    In a hole in the ground there lived a...

    June 15, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌫 12 °C

    Hobbit! What an amazing experience and day! After the disappointment of last night we decided to leave Rotorua behind us and head to Hamilton. We had no real plan but then Nick remembered about Hobbition and wondered where it actually was. Turned out it was on the way to Hamilton so it made sense to visit today. After looking online and finding they had quite a lot of availability we also discovered we get 10% discount with our Top10 card. We didn't bother booking as we weren't sure if we wanted to stop anywhere on the way so instead drove straight to Hobbiton. We were able to book on to a tour in 40 minutes time of us arriving so we took the opportunity to have a look around the shop. It wasn't as great a gift shop as we expected and we definitely found the Weta Workshop shop offered so much more. Soon our tour time arrived and we hopped on to a big green bus with our group of 40 and were driven down the 1.5km road in the farm to Hobbiton. Turns out this road was built by the NZ army for the film crew to be able to access the part of the farm they wanted to use. The guy who owns the farm is incredibly lucky that location scouts spotted their perfect hobbiton from a helicopter while trying to find the right spot. It must bring him a lovely extra bit of income. The weather wasn't too great but they provide you with huge green umbrellas to use which was ideal. Soon enough we were walking down the track that Gandalf came in on sat on a horse drawn cart where Frodo greeted him from a high grass bank to the side. It was incredible to be walking around the place where so many shots were taken. There were loads of totally unique hobbit holes, some small ones to be used for filming with larger characters such as Gandalf and some bigger ones to use for the shots of hobbits to make them look smaller. All the plants and vegetables growing are real and now maintained by a team of gardeners. There's a small orchard of fruit trees as apparently in the Hobbit book Tolkien describes Hobbiton as having plum trees. The issue was that plum trees in NZ grow too big so they actually planted apple trees and before shooting attached leaves and fruit from the plum tree onto each bare apple tree. All that effort was for 3 seconds of time on screen! That's how much detail has gone into creating Tolkien's world. The whole set was rebuilt as a permanent feature when they began filming the Hobbit films. When they created the original for LOTR they transported a huge oak tree from a neighbouring farm to feature as the tree above Bilbo's hobbit hole. When they came back this tree had died and as the Hobbit is set before LOTR the team had to create a replica tree out of foam and silicon exactly like the original only smaller so it appears younger. They then individually wired on all the leaves to the tree, all this for 11 seconds on film! Our guide was so informative with little things like that and we absolutely loved the tour and place. It really opens your eyes to how much time, effort and skill goes into everything we get to watch on screen. I wouldn't even be surprised if we come and do the tour again in summer. We ended our walk around Hobbiton in the Green Dragon having a complementary cider and stout. Despite the large group and many other tours happening it didn't feel overcrowded or rushed. Sadly the tour had to come to an end and after a short bus ride back we treated ourselves to a quick coffee to take the edge of the alcohol before setting off. By this point it was getting on a bit and after discovering the freedom camping spots in Hamilton didn't sound too great we decided to camp close by at a reserve. It was a lovely setting right on the lakeside with cows on the other side of the road. I think we're still in a bit of a Hobbtion bubble and so badly want to watch all the films back to back now! When we're back on farm that definitely will be happening.Read more