This is part 3 of a series of blogs on my 2024 trip to New Zealand.
Click here to see all posts in the series.
Wednesday 5th: Hobbiton
After visiting New Zealand, I am on the fence whether Hobbiton was the best thing we did while we were there. It was absolutely the most anticipated thing we were looking forward to before we went.
And, if you tell anyone that you did a LoTR themed tour around New Zealand, they will almost immediately ask something along the lines of ‘How was Hobbiton?’ or ‘Did you get to go to Hobbiton?’.
Having a movie set from a world renowned collection of movies just sitting there for you to explore, isn’t that common. Most movie sets are torn down for a variety of reasons and, in New Zealand, it’s normally, so the owner can continue using it for farming. I believe that New Zealand actually has a law stating that the site needs to be returned as-is; exactly how it was before filming.
Even if the sets were left there they are not normally built to last. A movie set like Hobbiton is open to the elements and film crews make the sets look perfect for the lens, not after 10 years of wind, sun, and rain. This is why the Hobbiton you can go and see today is the second build of the site.
I guess if you owned a farm back in 2000 and some movie producer called Peter Jackson asked to use your land for some high-fantasy book you had never heard of, you might take the money but want your land back afterwards. You would have next to no idea that by 2013 you would have had half a million nerds travel from around the planet to see a movie set; so you would request they remove everything and set it back to how it was.
So when ‘The Hobbit’ began filming, they rebuilt the site using more permanent materials, and began to regularly maintain it.
Anyway, enough history.
Hobbiton
Before booking, the tour had made it quite clear that dressing up for Hobbiton was encouraged, bordering on mandatory. Climbing back into Shadowfax — the nickname for our coach — after breakfast, it became very clear that I had not gotten the same memo as everyone else.
When we packed for the tour, I heard “wear a Lord of the Rings costume”, whereas everyone else heard “dress up as a Hobbit”.
I was a singular Gandalf in a sea of Hobbits.
We set off, and it took us about an hour to get close to Hobbiton.
If you had just dropped me here, I would swear blind that we were back in the Cotswolds in the UK. Rolling hills surrounded us on all sides as we pulled up to ‘The Shire’s Rest’, a small Café and bus depot where the tours start1.
We, however, were a special tour group, and we got to take Shadowfax from The Shire’s Rest to Hobbiton itself. As we headed up the road towards Hobbiton, our tour guide started playing ‘Concerning Hobbits’ from the beginning of the ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (embedded below, play it to follow along).
Shadowfax crested the hill, the music reached its crescendo, and we could see Hobbiton below us. The weather was perfect2; not a cloud in the sky to blemish a magical view. There were tears shed by most of the coach.
We all peeled off the coach, dried our eyes and headed into Hobbiton behind our tour guide. Walking in and seeing the movie set open up in front of us took our breath away.
Almost exactly as it was from the film, Hobbit holes lined the hillside all around us; each as interesting and unique as the next. I found out later that each of the Hobbit holes was a different size depending on if they were used for close up shots, or were just intended to provide depth. A team of gardeners worked year round to keep all the garden plots and flowers alive.
From where I was standing, Hobbiton felt real; which I guess it was (minus the interiors of the homes).
We took a bit of time to recreate the ‘I’m going on an adventure!’ scene from The Hobbit, before we started the tour.
I forgot to mention, back at The Shire’s Rest, we were assigned an ‘official’ tour guide who worked at The Hobbiton Movie Set. Timing was very strict, and we were not allowed to deviate from our given slot. Ultimately this resulted in the tour feeling a bit rushed, but it was understandable. Hobbiton sees hundreds of people a day, you can’t just let some idiots in costume run around poking things.
Our official tour guide was good, however some official responses to questions seemed a bit like they were run through a marketing team a couple of times. Not that they were false, but more that they seemed like they were putting a very glossy shine on the actions of the landowners who seemed to have acted with perfect foresight at all times.
After a walk up the hill to Bag End, and back down past the ‘Party Tree’, we came upon Bagshot Row. Although 3 Bagshot Row — Famously owned by The Gamgees — was not accessible, there were two fully recreated Hobbit holes that you could actually explore inside.
They were built at 83% scale but were fully kitted out with props to match. From a full pantry down to a recent copy of a newspaper you could read on the Hobbit sized toiled; you could imagine someone living here. One even had a miniature hobbit hole model of itself on a mantelpiece.
At 83% I spent my entire time bending down, but I didn’t mind. These Hobbit holes were super cool!
Last, but by no means least, we stopped off at the Green Dragon pub for a drink. It took me a couple of attempts to get into the Green Dragon because I kept getting stopped, so people could take photos with ‘Gandalf’.
After we had enjoyed a drink we spent about an hour in the Party Marquee next door to enjoy a buffet lunch. Once full, we looked out over the lake one final time, before begrudgingly getting back on Shadowfax and heading back to Rotorua.
The photos just really don’t do it justice. This whole blog could have been replaced with “You should go”.
★★★★★ 5/5 - Would go again if I’m ever in the area.
Redwoods Treewalk
With the day mostly used up and the light fading, we were let loose on Rotorua for an evening. Left to choose our own evening activity.
The Polynesian Spa came highly recommended and was opposite the hotel, however another recommended activity was the Redwoods Treewalk.
The Treewalk drew our eye because it looked quite unique. There are a few places in the UK you can see redwoods but none that provide a catwalk; allowing you to walk 15 meters off the ground.
The Redwoods Treewalk can be experienced in the day, to get the best view of the towering trees; or at night, where there is a unique light show suspended around the catwalk. We had no daylight left, so it was the nighttime tree walk for us.
The guide said that the ‘Nightlights Treewalk’ would take about 30-40 minutes, but we spent about double that. The lights were mesmerising, and we took our time enjoying the fresh nighttime air.
★★★★☆ 4/5 - A unique experience that brought an exhilarating touch to a nighttime walk. Well worthwhile.
Atticus Finch
A handful of the tour group came along to traverse the Redwoods, which was enjoyable, but when it came time to head home we teamed up with two of the group who we had hit it off with and shared a taxi back to Rotorua.
We stopped for dinner at a lovely restaurant on ‘Eat Streat’ — a street where many of the restaurants and bars can be found in central Rotorua — called Atticus Finch.
The food was great, the mulled wine welcome, and the company fantastic.
★★★★☆ 4/5 - Very nice food with great service.
As I stumbled back to the hotel, we happened past a classic Mini and I felt like I was back in ol’ Blighty again.
Overall it was a great day. We were so lucky that the weather held out for Hobbiton, we had a pleasant evening climbing the Redwoods, and a fun night out with two new friends at a good restaurant.
The holiday really felt like every day was surpassing the day before. We couldn’t wait for tomorrow.
Thursday 6th: Trollshaw Forest
Well that was the main event folks, I hope you’ll come back to read part 4. Next time we will be delving deep into some caves and visiting more filming locations.
Kia Ora! See you in part 4!
