I am currently living the #vanlife in New Zealand! Today we headed to Hobbiton! Our plan was to campervan through New Zealand for a Lord of the Rings tour.
The campervan was more spacious than I expected as everything had its own little compartment it fit into. The campervan we rented could apparently fit 5 people but I think 3.5 people was the right amount. The campervan was shiny and brand new and all the cooking utensils were still in their packaging. It may have been the first trip for the van. I know the shiny brand new of it all will wear off in 14 days but for right now it felt new and bougie. Gavin had even cooked us dinner in the van on the tiny gas stove. It fascinated me how everything worked from power to water and bathroom. The campervan had its own bathroom which included a tiny shower and toilet. The only thing I don't want to know is how to clean the toilet. I am fine not knowing that one. There was an 80 liter tank of water that was filled up and then the gray water was disposed of. I had never been in anything so self sufficient before. Paulette and Gavin were sleeping in the back of the van while I was sleeping on the bed that pulled out and was up in the attic. During the day, that bed is pushed up towards the ceiling for more space. Basically everything in the van can be detached and moved around to optimize space. At night the van can be plugged in which means the power outlets work to charge things and the big leisure battery that powers the lights during the day can also be charged. I think this was the real adventure of New Zealand!
Today's adventure was to the movie set of Hobbiton! The movie set was discovered when Peter Jackson was flying over the Alexander farm and discovered he wanted to use the farm for the setting of the Shire. The sheep and beef farm that the set occupies is huge, covering approximately 4,300 acres. It is characterized by rolling hills and sheep covering the hills.
Our reservation was only for 4pm but we had nothing else planned for the day so we decided to go early and hangout at Hobbiton. We started with lunch at the cafe at the base called Shire’s rest. They had some themed food which was fun like the full breakfast with crispy bacon and potatoes as Sam had pronounced them PO-TA-TOES in the movie. We had a big lunch after which we perused the gift shop to hear an announcement that there were a few open spots for the 12:10 pm tour. We dropped everything and ran to hop on the earlier tour. We were finally headed to the Shire!
Our tour of the Shire began with a bus ride to the Shire while they played the Shire theme song to get us in the mood. The bus ride was about 10 minutes long and took us through the rolling green hills of the massive Alexander farm. At the end of the road we began to see little colored doors dot the rolling green hills as we spotted the hobbit homes.
Most of the hobbit homes are just colorful cupboards featuring a few that are in fact fully furnished houses for specific scenes. There are a total of 44 hobbit homes total that make up the Shire. 90-95% of what remains is from the filming set meaning there has been little alteration done to the area. When the first scenes of the Shire were filmed all the houses and props were taken down however when they were filming the Hobbit, the Shire became a permanent installation and tourist attraction that brings in a million people every year. It is New Zealand's no. 1 attraction.
The hobbit homes were adorable and so well done! Each little round door was a different color from blue, orange, yellow, green, and red. On the front porch there was always a little table for sitting that gave away what their occupation was. For example, the baker had loaves of bread out on his front table and the beekeeper had jars of honey out on his table. The honey jars had real honey as it can remain preserved like that! The hobbit doors varied in size and there was one particular blue door that was built extra small to make Gandalf look taller when he walked by. The amount of detail that went into the set is crazy!
My favorite hobbit homes were the ones with cute floral gardens in the front garden! There was one red door that was open and we could take pictures with so we did not hesitate to use our little hobbit as a prop. There were a couple man made lakes in the Shire and some lovely fruit trees. Apparently in the book it was specified that the trees were plum trees so when the filming happened, Peter Jackson made sure that each apple and the leaves were plucked off and replaced with artificial plums.
The biggest and most significant house seated at the top of the hill belonged to Bilbo Baggins! What a view Bilbo had! He could see the entire Shire down below. Just as in the movie, the door was a dark green with a big pumpkin put front and sign that said “no admittance except on party business”. How I wished we could have gone in Bilbo's house! Apparently there is nothing inside as the interior was a set.
Down from Bilbo’s house was the party square where everything went down. There were two large tents with colorful flags and a Maypole. There was even a see-saw that we introduced to Ellie. We were having too much fun with her now that she was awake.
The highlight of Hobbiton was finally being able to walk through a hobbit house. All of the interiors of the houses that were shown in the movies were sets and no longer exist anymore. Recently they have just built 3 hobbit homes with furnished interiors so guests can walk through them. The best part was that we could touch everything and things like the water pump and fireplace were fully functional. The hobbit home was furnished to look like someone was currently living there. To get inside there was a long hallway we had to bend our heads to get inside. I loved the rounded doors and entryway interior.
The hobbit hole was extremely cozy! The first room was the living room and it had a fireplace going to keep it warm. There were several couches and an assortment of games out. There were small trinkets everywhere to pick up and look out. We put Elly in the dog's basket and on the tiny rocking horse. Everything was perfectly sized for her small human self. In the bedroom there was a small bassinet swing that we plopped her in. Unclear if we were allowed to do that but we did. We even put her in the tiny bath that she looked so confused to be in. The hobbit hole was huge and even had a fully dining room and desk area. The kitchen was very nice with food and kitchen utensils littered everywhere. There was even a full pantry.
The last site our tour took us to was to the green dragon inn to enjoy a tasty drink. Of course Gavin had to pose like Strider in a corner sipping on his beer. We had a ton of fun! We had been looking forward to Hobbiton for so long and here it had come and gone in a flash!
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