Middle Earth
New Zealand is a special place.
Before I landed in New Zealand I booked a trip to Hobbiton. I figured I’d want some anchor activities in the first week as I waited to move into my apartment (that’s a different story). Hobbiton seemed like a good choice as it would get me out of Auckland and into the countryside to see one of the most iconic movie sets in history.
I was more than happy to get up early a cloudy Thursday and head south to adventure. Hobbiton is about 2 hours south of Auckland. It’s mostly highway driving through gorgeous farmland and rolling green hills. I gave myself plenty of time as my reservation was for 3:40 in the afternoon. I figured I’d go out early and poke around the area to see if there was anything interesting to look at.
With the help of Claude, I narrowed in on a detour to the Putaruru Blue Spring — a small, insanely pure river/stream that winds through the countryside. The stream is known to be one of the purest sources of water in the world — taking almost 100 years to filter up through the aquifer before it emerges into the world as crystal clear blue water. The stream flows at a healthy clip of 700 liters per second, and supplies 70% of New Zealand’s bottled drinking water.
Swimming is forbidden, but there is a walkway along the side of the stream for several kilometers, allowing you to take in one of the cleanest water sources in the world.
Ok Marc… whatever. Big deal. It’s a stream.
Oh. But what a stream.
The water is transparent — 100%. It’s like looking through a pane of glass and seeing aquatic grasses sway gently in an invisible stream. If you’re lucky, you can spot the occasional fish hiding or hovering above the blue sands of the streambed as though it were suspended in midair.
The place is magical — and the walk is quite easy, following the stream as it meanders between small green hills dotted with trees and sheep.
For a second excursion into the countryside, this trip didn’t disappoint. The lushness of the greens contrasted with the blues and the occasional sunburst striking the water made for an amazing walk.
With the Blue Stream under my belt, I turned my attention to Hobbiton — driving a short 20 minutes or so to the movie set. I was quite excited to go here — it’s been a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time.
The tour started at the entrance of Hobbiton. We walked down a gravel path that winds through the hills until you’re suddenly standing in the Shire. Hobbit houses suddenly surround you, dug into the hillsides — each telling a story about who lives there. Woodcutter, Smith, Bee Keeper and of course Bag-End.
Hobbiton was originally built out for the Lord of the Rings and then dismantled after the movie was completed. When they recreated it all again for the Hobbit, they opted to keep the set and expand it — adding more hobbit holes, little paths and details which creates a rich, beautiful imaginary Shire.
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In recent years the set has been expanded to include two fully furnished hobbit holes you can walk through. The detail is incredible — part of process for developing the inside of the hobbit hole was to develop a whole backstory for the family living there — geneology, cookbooks, letters, games… every detail was thought through. It was magical, cozy and made you want to move in.
Hobbiton made you feel like you were in middle earth, surrounded by the lore and richness of Tokein’s imagination. The lush vegetable gardens, letters in mailboxes, and the small shops / services scattered across the shire made it feel like a lived-in village.
It was stunning. It was like stepping back into your childhood imagination to experience it in real life. Truly unique and awe-inspiring.
The finale though were the trolls. Petrified by the morning light, they stand in a small clearing just outside of town. They are absolutely huge — to the scale they’re seen in the movies. Massive Trolls standing petrified as they argued over how to eat dwarves.
Back when I was 3D modeling I had spent a ton of time studying pictures of Hobbiton. I loved the little hobbit holes, the colors of the round doors and the small picket fences. In fact I put out a Hobbits! collection of 3D assets for dungeon alchemist for people to enjoy and incorporate into their D&D games (see below). Getting to see them in person was a dream come true.
After wrapping up Hobbiton, I headed back to Auckland for a quick dinner. It was a long, but fun day — one that’ll I remember for a long, long time. :)
