One of the "must visit" place in the North Island is Hobbiton, the location for the Lord of the Rings / Hobbits movies. The site was chosen for it's rolling green pasture land which devoid of any tall, modern structures. The original hobbit shire was built out of Styrofoam and plywood, which was completely demolished when the Lord of the ring movie trilogy was completed. When the movie "The Hobbit" commenced shooting, the production crew rebuilt the entire shire with permanent structures which tourist can visit today. It was all nice except for the entrance fees, each person is charged a whopping NZD75.00 for a 2 hours guided tour. With 5 members in my family I have to forked out NZD350.00 just to buy the tickets, this has to be the most expensive visit on our road trip in NZ. However, in the face of 3 teenagers who are enamoured with the LOTR and The Hobbit movie, I was in no position to object!
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| The Green Dragon Inn from a distance, in the movie it most appeared in closed up night view. However in daylight, with the rolling green hills as backdrop, it has a different surreal look to it. |
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| The hobbits family! |
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| This hobbit hole belong to Bilbo in the movie "The Hobbit". The door looks like it leads to a cosy hobbit abode, but it is fixed, there is nothing but a shallow void behind the door. The rest are just a facade. All the interior scenes were shot in studios in other locations. |
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| Not all hobbit holes as impressive looking, this must have belong to a poor hobbit family. |
