Hobbiton - Feeling Like A Happy Hobbit

Ah, the Shire, Middle Earth, Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit. The one stop in New Zealand and maybe even of my entire trip I was most excited about. And it was pure bliss.

Hobbiton, located close to Matamata and set against a lush green hilly scenery, is the home of the Hobbits and shot to fame when it was used in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies.

For context, I was here 15-16 years ago after the Lord of the Rings movies were released, but the Hobbit homes were essentially only white doors and otherwise there was only green grassland (and lots of sheep poo). This was due to the whole set having only been built with temporary material, which was taken down after the film crew finished shooting the scenes.

However, given the success of the Lord of the Rings movies, when The Hobbit was filmed, they used permanent materials. And oh my, does it look beautiful. I joined a 2h tour through Hobbiton and really, really felt like a kid in a candy store. I cannot even describe it.

Hobbiton looked so vastly different vs the last time I was here. Everything is colourful (i.e. the doors of the hobbit holes (or homes), all the props are still laid out, we could even go into a hobbit hole, the green dragon pub now actually exists in real life and the whole scenery is just so magical.

I was running around Hobbiton, explored the homes, listened to interesting stories of our guide, drank a beer in The Green Dragon, and basically escaped reality and turned into a little Hobbit for a while.

The visit to Hobbiton was everything I hoped and imagined. Once we left, I was so incredibly happy to have been there and would want to go back almost immediately. Now, I have to watch the movies again - and there is no better place to do so than in New Zealand!Read more