New Zealand-- Hobbiton!

We just got back from an amazing spring break vacation-- autumn in New Zealand!  It exceeded all our expectations, and I will devote several blog posts to this trip.  First of all,  I wanted to show you a map.  Now I know y'all know where New Zealand is.  I just didn't realize how far it is from Malaysia!  It took 10-11 hours flight time from KL to Auckland.  Malaysia is above Indonesia in orange, and NZ is on the bottom right in purple.  But I am not complaining.  Our son, Jared, met us in Auckland.  He flew 28+ hours from New York City!

I have several friends who went to NZ over Christmas break.  They all stayed two weeks.  We only had a week for spring break.  We had to make lots of hard choices!

We only had a couple of hours to spend in Auckland.  So what better way than the Sky Tower to see most of Auckland at once?  At 1076 feet, the Sky Tower is the tallest manmade structure in the southern hemisphere.

The sign assured us that this glass floor was actually stronger than the concrete part.  I must say, it sure didn't feel that way!

NZ is the land of extreme adventures.  More on that in a later post.  But for now, this is what some people do for fun off the Sky Tower!

We left Auckland, for a two-hour drive to Hobbiton, the setting for the Shire in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies.  There was lots of beautiful scenery on the way.

Be sure to buy your tickets ahead of time online.  You don't want to be disappointed.  This tour got 5 stars on Trip Advisor.  A 'do not miss' if you are in NZ!

Hobbiton is actually part of a working sheep farm.

At this point, I have a blog post contributor-- my son Austin!  His comments will be in brackets.  He will add his thoughts and his superior memory along with his love for all things LOTR.

[Peter Jackson, the director, had black faced sheep brought in because the white ones looked too modern!]

[This is the point where I started nerding out. ]

I have a confession to make.  Until about a week before this trip, I had not seen any of movies.  I left those movies to father/son evenings.  The picture above was taken from my computer screen as I watched the movie on the plane.

This is the same spot during the tour!!

There are 39 unique Hobbit holes in the village.  They are built in two different sizes, depending on how big the actor needed to look. 

The flowers and vegetable garden are kept by some of the same gardeners who worked on the farm during filming.  One of my favorite things about the whole place is something you can't see in the pictures-- butterflies!  They were everywhere.  The feeling was enchanting.

The hills surrounding the village.

The open area in front of the tree, and the area in the picture below, is where Bilbo Baggins' birthday party was held.  After watching the first LOTR movie on the plane, I was able to recognize a lot of these spots.  :)

Funny thing about perspective.  I promise, I am taller than Savannah!  [Austin is really that big though. :)]

This garden was so charming.

Pipes are not provided or available at the tour.  Jared brought his pipe all the way from the US, to the envy of some of the other visitors.  This was in front of Bilbo and Frodo's home.

This is the only manmade tree in the whole village.  The director was not happy with the color of the leaves, so he had someone in a cherry picker go up and paint each silk leaf by hand. [This was all done for a camera shot that showed the hobbit hole from a few hundred meters away.]  Peter Jackson was veeerrrrry particular.  [In the book, Hobbiton was filled with plum trees. That was not so in the real life village. Peter Jackson had his minions pluck every single leaf and fruit off the native fruit trees and wire on plum leaves and plums.]

The tour ended with a drink from the Green Dragon Inn.  You could choose from two different ales, a hard cider, or a non-alcoholic ginger beer.

After the tour, we drove another (beautiful) two hours to the Tangariro National Park, home of the 'Mordor Trail'.  [This was Austin's favorite vacation. He and Jared definitely enjoyed seeing the books come to life.]