Friday, November 4, Rotorua to Auckland by way of Hobbiton

 Today was the day for Hobbiton.

We left Rotorua, stopped at Hobbiton (near Hamilton), then drove the rest of the way to Auckland.


We got to Hobbiton in plenty of time to visit the gift shop and have lunch.

Tours were leaving about every ten minutes. We had reservations for the 3:10 tour, as that was a time when the golf cart would be available (the paths were well beyond what Paula's scooter could handle).

Steve loves to photobomb

Me and Isaac at entry

Me and Gandalf

Paula in gift shop

Paula's sandwich and my eggs bene

Common sign in bathrooms

We could have gotten everyone and the scooter on the bus, but Steve and Paula chose to follow the bus. We had it arranged with the tour people, and it went smoothly. It was about a fifteen minute drive.

Following the bus

Sheep along the way

I chose to go with Paula on the golf cart, though I did a lot of getting off and back on. Our driver was a nice lady named Bethany. She asked whether we had read the books or seen the movies; it seems that they got about 30 people each day who had done neither. When people asked her if she was a hobbit, she said she just went along with it. Paula, of course, got a running description of what had been filmed where, and how.

Bethany and Paula on cart

Bethany

Paula and Bethany

All the trees but one are real. The Hobbit movies were made after the Lord of the Rings movies, and one of the trees on a hill, which should have been smaller, had grown too much. It was replaced with a steel tree with artificial leaves. Seems Peter Jackson didn't like the color, so the leaves all had to be painted.

New Zealand has the most beautiful landscapes of any place I have ever been. I don't know how people visualized Middle Earth before the movies, but there is no longer any question how people visualize it now.

There were a lot of hobbit holes. Isaac could probably tell you who lived in each one, or at least in which scene each one appeared, but I couldn't, so I'll just toss in a bunch of pictures. The doors were of different sizes, depending, I guess, on the scene.

Hobbit hole

The Shire

Hobbit hole

Paula

Hobbit hole

Isaac


Steve--on party business?

Hobbit hole

Hobbit hole

At one point a took a step back to take a picture, and fell off the path and a few feet down the hill. Completely unhurt--the grass was thick and soft--but I'm afraid I gave Bethany a fright.

Steve drinking from fountain

We ended the tour, of course, at the Green Dragon. I got a 0% ginger beer, Paula got the Oatbarton Brew. We also got scones, but our timing was a bit off and we had to hurry to stay with "our" tour bus group. Betheny brought us back to the minivan Steve had rented, and eventually Steve and Isaac showed up; they went the wrong way at first.

Steve and Paula at the Green Dragon

Steve and me at the Green Dragon

Isaac at the Green Dragon

Then we drove to Auckland.


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