Visiting the Land of the Kiwis(Pt 4, Final part)

Welcome back to my blog! Today we will take a look into the final few days of our wonderful journey through New Zealand. We last left off in Rotorua and we will continue our adventure there.

The most "touristy" attraction we had experienced was the set of the one and only Hobbiton! Yup! Believe it or not, but the set of Hobbiton from the famous Lord of the Rings series was located on a farm here in Rotorua, New Zealand. And they kept the set so Lord of the Rings lovers could all come and experience it, as if it was frozen in time. The entire experience was so extensive I had to set aside an entire post just to go over it!

As impressive and cool the set was, I have never watched the movies. But, we couldn't simply go all the way to New Zealand and not see the set, after all, it was the one and only Hobbiton is!

The entire experience was essentially like a walk through the set, a path was made that weaved through the homes and their iconic small circular doors.

I felt so tall compared to the houses, it felt so unreal!

The entire town was centered around a lake, the homes being one one side, the pub being on the other, with both sides being connected by a bridge,

Scattered throughout the set were props, like a the fresh pickings from a garden, fishing gear left on a dock, an artisan's work desk with supplied still scattered around, and clothing lines everywhere! It felt like the occupants of these homes were about to step out at any moment to resume whhatever they were doing.

And not to mention the wildlife of New Zealand that brought the set to life, like this bird! This is only one of the many birds that we spotted flying about the town, and it kind of looks like a black and white cookie.

Not sure how I managed to do it, but I somehow snapped a picture of one of the butterflys that were swarming around us when we were passing by the gardens near the entance of Hobbiton.

Of course we can't the forget the many ducks that hung out at the lake!

When we were walking around the set and being surrounded by all of these animals, the set felt that much more alive.

We were assisted with a guide who talked about how Hobbiton became suck a tourist attraction and how it was acutally taken down once filming was completed. However, it was rebuilt, permanently this time, for tourists to explore. After all, what are you going to do with the set of suck a treasured series? Even a wedding took place here!

Our guide described how every each home, or hobbit holes, were incredibly detailed and personalized according to their owners. No two hobbit holes were even remotley similar. While on the topic, can you believe that one of the trees on set had every single leave painted? Now that is the next level of attention to detail. Just think of how much patience those constructing the set had!

Aside from the sheer impressivness of the attention to details, making homes that are built in the ground in real life feels surreal, just like how it felt walking through them!

Now, we can't forget the fact that this is in New Zealand, so of course there is going to be the most stunning views around Hobbiton even though its located on a farm! I can't help but look at the hills with the mountains peeking through in awe.

After enjoying a nice tea in the pub ( Such a shame I'm too young to have any alcohol ) we hopped back onto the bus that took us back to the main center, where I bought the first two Lord of the Rings books and drove back to our hotel. Even though I hadn't watched any of the movies until the flight back home, it was an experience I will never forget!

And with that folks, we conclude our extensive visit to New Zealand! I hope you guys enjoyed and stay tuned for the next journey! Thank you!