The Magic of Hobbiton

My family joined me for the last week in New Zealand and it has been really wonderful. After so much time on my own, I greeted them with much gratitude. I had truly missed them! My family includes my husband Todd, and 2 young adult daughters Fiona (26) and Olivia (22). Fiona lives in LA and Olivia in Boston, and we had not all been together since last June. What an amazing blessing it is to be together, AND for this amazing adventure in New Zealand! This leg of the journey was very different from the first part with my camper van. I was not sad to return the van and pick up a rental car–this time a Rav 4 Hybrid. It is so much smaller, smoother, NEWER, and easy to drive. I did all the driving for the whole trip.

Of course we had to go to Hobbiton. One of the inspirations for this trip was the Lord of the Rings movies, famously filmed in New Zealand at the insistence of NZ-er director Peter Jackson. Even though JRR Tolkein was British and he envisioned and English countryside, for ME, New Zealand embodies the LOTR magic and mystique. The landscape here is a perfect other-worldly magical Middle Earth. Since New Zealand was an English colony, I think the UK immigrants tried to re-create what they remembered in the English countryside. This includes miles and miles of sheep and cow pastures over rolling hills. Perfect for Hobbiton! In fact, an actual sheep and dairy farm was used for the Hobbiton set.

It’s hard to imagine today, but the LOTR movies were very risky venture and people did not know if they would be commercially successful. So, the set for Hobbiton was built, the scenes recorded, and was promptly torn down. It was not until may years later when the Hobbit movies were filmed that the idea of making a permanent set for people to visit was imagined. Hobbiton is nearest to the small farming town of Matamata. Unlike anything in the USA, where we have Disney and Universal Studios, Hobbiton, is a small tourist destination that accommodates maybe a couple of hundred people at a time. We boarded a 40 person bus and drove to the countryside and had a 2.5 hour guided tour and exploration of the Hobbiton.

We were the only Americans in the group, but not the only LOTR fans. Our guide was a source of much knowledge of course. The detail of this place and the loving care of the space was amazing-from the real working gardens, the tiny Hobbit clothes on the clotheslines, Bilbo’s original pipe on the bench where we first see him. It was such a fun and exciting time. The highlight was being able to enter Bilbo’s house and explore for quite a long time. There was even a hot fire in the fireplace, with knitting in the basket I did a few stitches on. We ended our tour with a drink at the Green Dragon!

Hobbiton was created as the homey place that contains all the things that give you warm and fuzzy feelings. Everything is simple and good and happy. The Hobbiton set recreated that feeling for me. It was magical and beautiful. This is the place from where Bilbo and then Frodo, Samwise, Merry, and Pippin embark on their adventures. It is the safe home base that contrasts with the wild unknown adventure. We all need that home where you feel safe and secure, loved and affirmed. I think Tolkein meant Hobbiton to create all those feels for us. And Peter Jackson created it again for the movie. And I experienced a bit of that magic at the movie set in Hobbiton.

Much love to you all!

Nicole