Hobbiton: Shire Magic

Hobbiton!!! Yes, it’s just as magical and special as you might imagine! Actually, a bit more so for me. I had expected to see more of a “set”, yet Hobbiton Movie Set is truly the whole shire setting with 44 hobbit homes and their community, including gardens, furniture and laundry drying on lines. It’s easy to imagine how the director of Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit fell in love with this 1,250 acre sheep farm and knew he could bring the stories of Tolkien to life. We lucked out with sunshine and had a great time exploring and learning about the behind the scenes details. It’s truly a gorgeous area!

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

[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”159″ exclusions=”7653,7654,7655,7656,7657,7658,7659,7660,7661,7670,7671,7672,7673,7674,7675,7676,7677,7678,7679,7680,7681,7682,7683,7684,7685,7662,7663,7669,7664,7665,7666,7667,7668″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_pro_blog_gallery” override_image_settings=”1″ image_quality=”100″ image_crop=”0″ image_watermark=”0″ image_display_size=”740″ image_max_height=”0″ spacing=”5″ border_size=”1″ border_color=”#c9c9c9″ display_captions=”0″ caption_location=”below” ngg_triggers_display=”always” captions_enabled=”1″ captions_display_sharing=”1″ captions_display_title=”1″ captions_display_description=”1″ captions_animation=”plain” slug=”hobbiton-welcome” order_by=”alttext” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”10000″]

The Road to the Shire

From our home exchange in Taupo, this was an hour and a half drive. If you’re in Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua or anywhere within a few hours, book a tour time and enjoy the beautiful drive. Tours are well organized (I can’t believe how many people visit!), yet relaxed and we really enjoyed our guide, Paul. You meet at the and a bus takes you to the entry – this is one way they manage what would otherwise be chaos for the property owners, plus it keeps the area pristine and free of cars, roads, power lines and buildings. Hobbiton Tours website.

Sorry our photos are a bit full of us, but it’s impossible to resist the cuteness factor when you’re there! They have perfect shire shots on their website and social media pages, so you can enjoy those, too.

Can’t wait to watch the movies again with a whole new perspective!

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Click on any photo to see them all larger. 

[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”159″ exclusions=”7682″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_pro_mosaic” row_height=”180″ margins=”5″ last_row=”justify” lazy_load_enable=”1″ lazy_load_initial=”35″ lazy_load_batch=”15″ captions_enabled=”1″ captions_display_sharing=”1″ captions_display_title=”1″ captions_display_description=”1″ captions_animation=”plain” slug=”hobbiton-new-zealand” order_by=”alttext” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”10000″]Hobbiton Trip Date: February 2017 

We’re midway through this 5 month journey down under, so more stories and photos from New Zealand, Australia and Fiji coming along as we slow down enough to post!

Stories so far on this journey: New Zealand, Australia & Fiji plans!,  Tips to Organize Multiple Home Exchanges 7 Things we LOVED about Sydney (and 5 things that surprised us) Tongariro Crossing – 12 miles, 7 hours, 1 life experience OR All Doom, no gloom