A Little Trip to Hobbiton

Well, I suppose this is where I reveal my Lord of the Rings nerdiness. In case you didn't already know, I am a big fan! And I made it to Hobbiton! Such a cool place and so happy I got to see it in person. A group of 6 of us in the BU program decided to take a bus 3 hours from Auckland to Matamata, aka Hobbiton. This was two days after I got back from the Geography trip to Northland. The scenery along the way was composed of pastureland and mountains in the background.

Once we arrived, the entire area was made up of rolling hills of farmland, and I could immediately see why it was picked for the location. We were only allowed in with a tour so we had a guide but we sort of lost him halfway through, oops. So we were left to our own devices to explore and appreciate all 40 hobbit holes. 

Sam and Rosie's House

The Party Tree

 

We were allowed to go inside one of the holes which was pretty neat, but unfortunately not Bag-End although it was pretty epic to even be outside it. Every hobbit hole is unique and has been aged so that it feels like the community has been there forever. They told us that someone was paid to walk up a pathway in the morning, hang laundry on a clothesline, and in the evening walk back and take it down for a year just so that there would be an authentic worn footpath. Talk about attention to detail. There was also moss on the fences and worn doors to obtain the aged feel. 

Bag End

Couldn't resist

After walking around Hobbiton, we ended our stay with a visit to the Green Dragon Pub for a drink and afterwards, I played "Concerning Hobbits" on my tin whistle to fully set the mood.

 Here's a clip of me playing at Hobbiton.

 After some second breakfast in town, we headed back to Auckland. Such a great day with friends and sheep in Middle-Earth. So I have made it to the start of the Ring's journey, and I definitely plan to make it to Mount Doom so stay tuned for that adventure sometime later in the semester. I've brought Geena's ring from the board game Lord of the Rings Risk with me to New Zealand so we shall see if I end up getting to destroy it at Mount Doom. Until then, I shall 'keep it secret, and keep it safe'.