#OurWorldIsAwesome – Edition 21
Nearly every place featured in this “world is awesome” series has been a national park. The only exception so far has been Lauterbrunnen Valley – which really would be a national park in any other part of the world except Switzerland, where breathtaking beauty is amusingly commonplace.
New Zealand is another such place. And it felt right to make an exception for the Hobbiton Movie Set, located on a private sheep farm in Matamata.
The reason I wanted to make this exception is because so much of the joy of visiting New Zealand and checking out its famous landmarks is going back to scenes from the incredible Lord of the Rings trilogy – which in many ways was an ode to New Zealand. And when you think about the trilogy, the place that most signifies the beauty of Middle Earth is the Shire.
We were incredibly excited to check out what the Shire might look like in real life. And even though we went with high expectations, it still managed to blow us away.
The set beautifully brings together those rolling green hills, the water body, and the hill with the Party Tree. It has 44 hobbit holes – most of them are just facades with no interiors.
But there is a fully functioning pub on site – the Green Dragon Inn – and one hobbit hole that’s been converted into a full-scale home with incredible attention to detail.
And there are so many wonderful stories. Like the frogs who were so loud they had to be transferred out during shooting. Like the many tales of Peter Jackson’s attention to detail and ingenuity. Like the fact that they imported a special oak tree piece by piece and assembled it above Bag End to give it that signature look.
And even the fact that despite the many thousand sheep on the farm. Peter Jackson flew in a set of sheep from a different part of New Zealand because he felt they looked less modern and more Middle Earth-y. As the folks on the farm joked – the local sheep were devastated and still haven’t recovered from the shame of that choice.
Mostly, what’s special about Hobbiton is the incredible attention to detail. You feel like you’re in the movie. It is as gorgeous as you hope it would be – and maybe some more. Every time you hear Howard Shore’s wonderful soundtrack or are thinking about Gandalf entering with Bag End playing – either at the pub or on the bus or when you’re staring at the mill – you’re immediately transported to Middle Earth. It is a place that evokes magic.
It is no wonder that Hobbiton is one of New Zealand’s top tourist destinations. And despite being just one among the many thousands who spent a couple of hours in the Shire, it still remained a highlight of what was a very special trip.
A Learning a Day 