An Expected Journey: Hobbiton

An Expected Journey: Driving from Auckland to Rotorua with a stop along the way

We had rented a car in Auckland and returned it at the Rotorua airport, which meant about a 3 hour road trip for us. Luckily, we were able to split that drive up a bit by stopping at a major tourist destination along the way: Hobbiton. 

This is where you all get to find out just how much of a nerd Peter really is. When he was a child, he first saw the old lord of the rings movie. The animated one from 1978. That lead him to reading the books when he was 9. Then the movies came out, all of which he saw in theaters and bought on vhs/dvd when they became available (extended additions with deleted scenes, of course). He read the books again as a teenager, and read them to me after we got engaged. I wouldn’t let him read all of the appendices at the end of Return of the King, but believe me he would have gladly read those to me as well.  Furthermore, as a child, he and his brothers would run around outside and fight with sticks, playing Lord of the Rings. He even went through a phase where he tried to convince his dad to buy swords from the movie to mount above the mantle piece. He loves the LOTR trilogy but really hates the more recent Hobbit movies, because “they aren’t true to the original story.” I could go on, but I think you get the picture. He is a nerd and a loser and deserved being made fun of. 

As you might imagine, visiting Hobbiton, which was the set of the town for the films and later turned into a tourist destination, was one of the things on our must-do list. As a note - this should not be on everyone’s must-do list. The tickets are expensive, and in general it is an overcrowded tourist trap. That being said, Peter and I loved it! The tour takes about two hours, mostly because you have to wait for everyone to take photos in Hobbit holes, or of recognizable trees and signs. It rained the entire time we were there, but we were able to dry off next to a warm fire in the Green Dragon with a refreshing beer and cider. 

In addition to the tour of Hobbiton, the surrounding landscape provided us with some amazing photo opportunities. It looks gorgeous in the movies, but the entire surrounding countryside all looks like that in real life. Everything is so lush and green, and the sheep baaing in the distance brought happiness to our hearts. 

After the tour we continued our drive and arrived at our destination in Rotorua, where we spent the next few days before flying to the South Island.