NZ Part 3 - A Morning to Remember

Hobbiton was at the top of our list of places to visit and was in fact the first thing we booked even before our flights. There was never a chance we'd miss this. For the original LoTR trilogy they had a temporary set constructed in a working farm. When they came back for the Hobbit trilogy ten years later they decided to make it more permanent. Now it's a miniature theme park (pun intended) with tours running all day everyday. That makes it sound like a cheap money making scheme and that's kind of what I expected. Even so I was happy to contribute for a chance to visit the Shire. But surprisingly it was nothing like that at all. It was a haven of peace and tranquility where the simple things in life are celebrated. And like Bilbo says: "It's no bad thing to celebrate a simple life".

Our tour guide had moved from Australia so that she could work here and be a part of it. And that seemed to be a common theme. There was just an overwhelming sense of calm and a purity and warmth that drew you in. I asked if there was a realtor I could speak with about purchasing a 10-person hobbit hole but apparently not. I did my best to embarrass my children and I'm sure I succeeded when I volunteered to play the role of Bilbo in a short reenactment.

Frankie wasn't so in to the tranquility and did his best to be a disturber of the peace even going so far as jumping into the fireplace. But the rest of us enjoyed our pints in the Green Dragon and then a hearty second breakfast in the Mill. In the words of Thorin Oakenshield: ”If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”































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