Hello there!
Having completed my earlier travel posts on several interesting countries and regions, including Japan, Maldives, Indonesia, US and the latest one being several countries in Europe, it's time to fly south and share on one of most picturesque countries in the world, and that's New Zealand!
This trip was took place several years back in 2015, and the trip was filled with adventures and many unique activities and experiences.
Here are the posts so far:
Day Hike @ Tongariro Alpine Crossing
New Zealand - Dolphin Watching At Bay Of Islands
New Zealand - Exploring The Scenic Otehei Bay
New Zealand - Visiting Cape Reinga Lighthouse At The Northernmost Tip
New Zealand - The Maori Village Experience
New Zealand - A Unique Farm Experience And More!
Let's continue our New Zealand adventure! We moved on from the farm experience to a place which I very much look forward to visit, and that's Hobbiton! Being a fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was definitely going to be exciting to take a trip down to the Hobbiton Movie Set to see the actual buildings, the props, etc.
Due to the location, they had buses arranged to pick up visitors and here's the bus that we boarded!
After more than an hour's drive, we finally reached! Welcome to the Hobbiton Movie Set!
Little tips for the visitors. Every visit would be led by a tour guide so it was not free and easy. Having a tour guide was definitely welcomed because we got to hear all those explanations and descriptions of the places within Hobbiton.
And after a short walk, we were officially into Hobbiton! What greeted us were the familiar houses that the hobbits lived. To cater for the actual filming, there were houses of different heights so as to portray the contrasts of the actors' heights. I thought that was very interesting. Another nugget of information was there most of the scenes within the house were filmed in the studios, but the scenes outdoors were filmed right here.
We moved on from the houses to the "farms" where they grew vegetables, plants, etc. Even some many years after the movies, they still maintained the place really well, I guess it's also because they have transformed this place into a tourist attraction as well.
Blue skies and windy paths along with the greenery. The weather was really good to take photos that day!
We next moved uphill, for those who remembered the movie or read the books, this would be familiar. The view from hill top did bring back some memories from the movies and aside from that, the scenery was fantastic.
The surrounding details such as the lights were also well thought of.
More winding paths as we explored the grounds.
We were approaching the end of the guided tour and our next stop would be the Green Dragon. It's currently a cafeteria for visitors to grab some drinks and light bites.
Here we reached!
We grabbed some food and drinks and rested a little. After all, it was quite a bit of walking under the sun for the past hour or so.
The internal decor was pretty impressive too! They even had a fireplace! Hehe!
They had outdoor seats too, but I guess given the sun, most people preferred to sit indoors.
And that's the end of the tour to the Hobbiton Movie Set! I really enjoyed it because I am a fan of the Lord of the Rings series, so being able to see the actual locations of many key places in the movie was very exciting and meaningful for me. But for those who are not big fans of the series, maybe it's still a nice place to chill and enjoy the scenery if you have some idle time in New Zealand and are looking for a relaxing activity to spend the afternoon. Definitely glad that I made this trip!
And that's all I have today! Have you been to New Zealand? Let me know in the comments below!
Finally, thanks for reading my post in the community under World Map Pin!