I got in to Rotorua from Auckland around 9.30pm and walked to my hostel, Crash Palace, which was cheap and nice. Unfortunately I arrived to beer pong on Saturday night, but by the time I showered the exhaustion set in and I passed out. The next morning I woke up for my first tour, and since I am a massive Lord of the Rings fan it was at the top of my list. I was dying to visit the Hobbiton movie set in New Zealand!

Hobbiton movie set, New Zealand

A view of Hobbiton in New Zealand

Hobbiton Movie Set

The tour of the Hobbiton movie set was the only thing I booked in advance and it was so worth it. There are loads of tours of the Hobbiton movie set. Since Rotorua is so small most of the Hobbiton movie set tour buses are close by. We had a really amazing guide that took us around the Hobbiton movie set. He gave us loads of fun facts about the production as well.

Hobbiton Movie Set, New Zealand

The Most Famous Hobbit Hole in Hobbiton

It was amazing to see these iconic locations up close, especially the center piece of the Hobbiton movie set, the famous Bag End! They explained why there were so many different sizes of hobbit holes. This was because they needed the large hobbit holes to make the hobbits look tiny, and they needed tiny hobbit holes to make Gandalf look large! The amount of detail on each hobbit hole was absolutely mind blowing. There was one tree about Bag End that didn’t quite have the right look, and so the art department had to remove and repaint every leaf of the tree.

Hobbiton Movie Set New Zealand

A View of the party field

As we followed the path we noticed the huge field where it all began, this field was used for Bilbo Baggins’ eleventy first birthday. Where he decides he needs to leave the Shire, dying for a new adventure he puts on the ring and disappears into thin air.

It’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to – Bilbo Baggins

Of course no visit to the Hobbiton movie set would be complete without a visit to the Green Dragon! The Green Dragon serves beers and ciders that are brewed right there. I got one drink included with my tour and I had the apple cider and it was fantastic! No wonder those hobbits loved this place so much!

Before you go make sure you grab yourself something from the gift shop, you only visit the Hobbiton movie set once in your life, I grabbed a Green Dragon magnet but was very tempted to grab my own ring!

I thought up an ending for my book. ‘And he lives happily ever after, till the end of his days. – Bilbo Baggins

Have you visited Hobbiton yet?

 

 

 

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