Okay! Anyone who knows me know this is definitely something I've been looking forward to for a long time. This is our visit to Hobbiton! This is where the filming for Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings trilogy and the recently released The Hobbit movie. Everyone knows the films were all done in New Zealand in various locations. The village of Hobbiton (which is now actually on the map of New Zealand) was filmed on a locally owned sheep farm. The farm is 1250 acres in size. They have over 13,000 sheep and 4,000 head of cattle. The Hobbit movie set takes up all of 10.5 acres of it. Clearly the sheep have managed to work around it, and when I say work, I mean eat and sleep.

We arrived at the farm and I was very eager to get going. The bus came and grabbed us and took us down a path so narrow and windy only mountain goats should be walking on it. The drivers drove it at full speed while giving us fun facts about the film and what went into it. They had about 400 people on site every day. The whole set had to be torn down and built from scratch from the first movie. The big oak over a Bag End isn't real. Etc...

Our tour guide was a very funny guy who clearly knows his stuff and has seen his share of LOTR fanatics. He told us some good stories of those. He also looked a lot like Clark Gable, but frankly my drear, most people didn't give a damn. It was an unreal tour. We were literally taking a stroll through Hobbiton! There are 44 hobbit holes in total. On the first movie there were only 32. When they started building for the new movie they destroyed all the old ones and rebuilt them all. Reason being was for consistency and quality.

We walked up and down all the paths and took loads of pictures. It was so peaceful and scenic. It's just amazing how much work really goes into all the details and special effects. The way they aged the fences (wood shavings, yoghurt, and paint). How they built the great oak (found a suitable tree somewhere else, photographed it, cut it down, marked and mapped every branch, transported it, and reassembled it exactly on site) and so on. There was a lot of information. The best thing about the tour was just strolling through the real Hobbiton with like minded people enjoying the scenery. We hung out in front of bag end, Sam's house, and the party tree and area where they celebrated Bilbo's "one hundred and eleventy-first" birthday!

The final part of the tour was my favorite. We stopped and had a drink at The Green Dragon! For those who don't know, the Green Dragon is the bar where the hobbits did all their drinking in the movie. It's a fun and festive place. Until about a month ago the Green Dragon wasn't open to the public. People had to look at it from across the bridge. Now they've completed the inside and turned it into a Pub. It's complete with a complimentary bevy. Drinking at The Green Dragon! Doesn't get much better than that!

The day ended with some good stories for fanatics. There are two I'll share with you. The first is of a German man who came in full hobbit uniform. He had the entire outfit like he was in the movie. The only issue with his outfit was him. Hobbits are short and this man is over 2.2 Meters tall (about 7'2" high). The most fanatical were a couple who spoke the language of the elves fluently. Like for real. For the duration of the tour, the husband translated everything the tour guide was saying in elvish for his wife. Hilarious!

That's Hobbiton. I really held back because I am a fan of the movies. It was very exciting to capture movie magic in person and get taste of what it was to be part of Middle Earth.

Enjoy just some of the pictures.


Ali