On to Hobbiton

So we made a stop on the way to Auckland from Rotorua.  We went to Hobbiton, from Lord of the Rings.  Kim really wanted to stop to see the old movie set, even though there wasn't going to be much left and it was going to be expensive to go to.  (We had been told that there were just a few hobbit holes left and that they just had white plywood with a big hole in the middle as their entrances.)  But we thought that we are only in New Zealand once so we might as well go be tourists.  But were we in for a fun surprise!  When we arrived at The Shire's Rest Cafe to sign-up for our tour, we had to sign our names to an official document that said that we would not share any photos of the tour on any public place on the internet....Hmmm.....

 Here is the official tour bus for Hobbiton.

 The Shire's Rest Cafe where you can eat, buy souvenirs and sign up for a tour of the movie set.

As we went on the tour, we found that Hobbiton had been fully rebuilt down to the growing gardens.  It looked identical to the first movie set.  It was amazing that they let us tour the working set.  They were scheduled to begin shooting on the set in the next few weeks.  As much as we would love to show you the photos, we are unable to on this blog.  We are willing to set up a personal photo showing session, if anyone is interested....

 

As an added bonus, the tour adds a presentation of the life on a typical sheep farm.   When Hobbiton was merely white plyboards with holes in them, the tour company  had to add something extra to make the tour more worth your money.

 They did a presentation for us about the wool industry in New Zealand and how to shear a sheep.

Kim feeding one of the baby lambs that were brought out after the presentation.

 

Kim wanted one more photo before we officially left Hobbiton.

What a fun surprise this stop had been!