A Tour of Hobbiton

I’ve written this post about 4 times, but then my phone dies and all is lost. So here’s a quick summary, because I’m tired of rewriting it:

Hobbiton is incredible. It’s 12 acres in the middle of an already gorgeous 12,000 acre sheep farm. When I was first researching the trip, many blogs said there wasn’t much there but sad empty holes, so my expectations were low. What I didn’t know was yay those reviews were written before the Hobbit trilogy was filmed. For those films, the property owner requested that the set be made of permanent materials. The result: 40+ gorgeous dwellings, complete with chimneys, clotheslines, gardens, windows, and beautiful round doors–everything except space to live inside. Those scenes were shot in a studio 🙂

It was honestly the most peaceful spot I could imagine, even with hundreds of tourists wandering the area. We got a brew (well, a ginger beer) from the Green Dragon. On the way home, or hilarious tour guide, Mike, took us on the scenic route, told us a lot about cows and golf courses (he’s a farmer and New Zealand has the second highest number of golf courses per capita in the world). Then we got cheap ice cream, returned to the hostel, and got ready for the south island the following day.