The Shire - Waitomo Travel Weekend

 Sunday was reserved for visiting the famous Hobbiton movie set, aka “The Shire”. Never having read or seen The Hobbit or any part of the Lord of the Rings series, I was a little skeptical about whether or not the $75 tour would really be worth going on. Eventually, I decided to tag along with the rest of my group, many of whom were big fans.

The tour began with an explanation of how they picked the site to begin with and some of the family history. This farm was chosen because it was the only spot that Peter Jackson found that had a lake, a “party tree”, and rolling hills that looked like England. From that, they created a beautiful set complete with hobbit holes, impeccable gardens, and a pub.

Throughout the tour, our guide stopped us many times to ask trivia questions. If you got one right, you got to keep a leaf from the only fake plant on the property- a tree at the very top of the hill whose leaves were hand painted by ten University students when Jackson decided they had faded too much from the sun between film sessions. A few people in our group were able to win them.

In addition to taking an excessive amount of pictures, we were able to go inside one of the Hobbit holes, which were nothing more on the inside than a few square meters of hollowed hill with a gravel floor. When we gathered around the party tree, we learned the height requirements for casting the Hobbits and learned that Brittany could have been in the movie because she was short enough. They also took us inside the iconic "Green Dragon Pub" and let us pick from five different drink options, the best of which was a non-alcoholic ginger beer.

If you’re ever in that area of New Zealand, I would definitely recommend going to the Shire whether you’re a fan or not. It’s not your typical movie set and was definitely a sight to see. If nothing else, you can make your friends who are fans very jealous with the awesome pictures.