Mags and Mike's Travel Blog: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."

March 25th

Having come back to North Island, we're very close to the "Shire" so we couldn't resist going to see where Bilbo and friends hang out.

As you would expect in New Zealand the Shire is actually a sheep farm, tucked away in the middle of nowhere. Director, Peter Jackson, spotted this perfect location from the air. Amazingly it had sufficient land that had no electricity wires, roads etc and even had a big pine tree that was essential to the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings story. The canny farmer has developed the Hobbit site into a very popular tourist attraction. No Hobbits to be seen of course because they mostly sleep during the day!

Amazing amount of detail has been put into the site. The landscaping had to be made to look English so appropriate hedging, flowers etc have all been imported and planted. The big oak tree that features in the stories was built by repositioning the trunk of an existing tree and then leaves were made in Japan, all of which were carefully wired to the tree! It is starting to look a bit patchy now as the leaves get blown off. However the overall effect that's been achieved is pretty good. The thatched roofs being the exception. Apparently the production team learnt how to thatch from U tube. They have a way to go before they get expert!