On our third – and final – day in New Zealand, we stopped at the North Island port of Tauranga. This was the stop that I was most excited about, as Tauranga is only an hour or so away from Hobbiton, where The Shire scenes from the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies were filmed. Across all six movies, filming actually took place across New Zealand forests, mountains, rivers, and fields; however, Hobbiton is generally considered to be the spiritual home of the outdoor scenes. Naturally, most of the inside filming and digital effects occurred near Wellington. I am a huge fan of the books and movies, having even taken a course in the philosophy of Tolkien in college, and then seeing a musical version of Lord of the Rings in London’s West End during a business trip in 2007. In April, I will be taking my youngest sister to see Return of the King at Radio City Music Hall, with the soundtrack performed by a live orchestra. So, yes, I was incredibly excited for today’s excursion.
We awoke in Tauranga to a beautiful day, with sunny skies and temperatures hovering around 80 degrees. After breakfast, we met our tour guide and driver, Robin, who was incredibly welcoming and informative as he took us out to Hobbiton. Robin had difficulty understanding why so many people would travel to New Zealand to see the film sites, but he appreciated the influx of tourism that has followed. It feels a bit monotonous to continue to describe the New Zealand countryside as beautiful, but the rolling green hills and lush forests certainly fit that description. I think that Ann Taylor got a kick out of my excitement as we passed a sign for the Hobbiton Movie Set Tourist Farm. We had been booked for the 11:30am tour, but there were a couple of seats left on the 11:00am tour, and I was glad to be able to hop right on the green Hobbiton bus. Each bus is named for one of the Middle-Earth characters, and I was practically giddy as we left the ticketing area for the ten-minute ride to the film site. Judging by the faces of the other passengers on the bus, I was far from the only excited guest.
Arriving at The Shire, the Hobbiton tour guide explained that the original set – which was build in the middle of a working sheep farm – was largely dismantled after the Lord of the Rings trilogy filming wrapped. When Peter Jackson returned to film The Hobbit trilogy, the owners of the land agreed, with the condition that the sets were made of permanent materials so that they could be turned into an attraction for tourists later. Filming The Shire scenes for The Hobbit took only twelve days, but the set has been maintained incredibly well. While some of the surrounding fields had browned over the Summer months, The Shire is water three times each day, so the grass was just as green as it appears in the films. Over two hours, the Hobbiton tour guide took us around the forty or so Hobbit homes that had been constructed, noting that some homes or trees that took days or weeks to construct only appeared in the films for a few seconds. We were allowed to take photos throughout the set, although we could not go into the Hobbit homes, as they were all facades that were only built two or three meters into the hills. Facsimiles of various sizes were rebuild in Wellington for scenes that spanned inside and outside.
I was especially excited to see Bag End, home of Bilbo and Frodo, and to have my picture taken in front of the famous green door. We walked down onto the field where Bilbo’s birthday party was filmed, and posed under the Party Tree. I loved learning some of the behind-the-scenes stories, and it was really incredible to walk through so many areas that I remembered from the books and the films. After exploring The Shire, we were offered a drink at The Green Dragon Inn, where I tried a special ale that is only available at The Hobbiton set (or in the gift shop, of course). We took our last pictures, and then boarded the bus (Kili, I believe) back to the ticketing area. At the café, we had a surprisingly tasty lunch with salad, grilled chicken, rice, and meatballs. Then, we explored the gift shop (of course), where I picked up a souvenir shot glass and a postcard for my sister. They had maps, shirts, and other trinkets that would have been fun to take back if we had more room in our suitcases, or in our apartment. The memories and photographs are souvenirs that I will treasure for a long, long time.
Having spent the afternoon at Hobbiton, it was time to return back again to the port and the ship. On the way, Robin showed us a lovely park where he and his grandchildren spend time on the weekends. When we arrived in Tauranga, I used my last few New Zealand Dollars to treat Ann Taylor to an ice cream cone – we had heard about New Zealand ice cream all week – after she had been so nice to spend one of her vacation days to indulge my inner nerd. After a short walk along the beach, we returned to the ship for the last time, as we spend the next three days at sea. We once again passed on the late afternoon trivia, electing to catch up on a nap – and Facebook – before dinner. Tonight, Ann Taylor and I both ordered a shrimp and scallops dish with potatoes, which was alright, but not one of our favorites. Dessert was much better, a sorbet flavored with limoncello from Sorrento, where Ann Taylor and I had also enjoyed limoncello during the first week of our Italian honeymoon. The Canadian couple that we dine with had also purchased a small sheep stuffed animal to help Baby Shaw remember its first trip to New Zealand.
Tonight’s evening entertainment was a performer in the style of Dolly Parton. Not really my cup of tea, but I toured the Lord of the Rings set this morning, so it hardly mattered to me as she crooned Islands in the Stream with a Kenny Rogers ventriloquist doll. Seriously. With a few sea days ahead of us, we called it a night early and passed on any of the other nighttime entertainment options. Our personal navigator has some interesting options for our first sea day tomorrow, including a tour of the galley and an opportunity to meet the show cast, who we have grown to know over the past couple of weeks. It is hard to believe that it was two weeks ago that we started making our way to Tahiti for the start of our cruise, and even harder to imagine that the end of our vacation is also rapidly approaching. We have enjoyed every day so far so much, and we are absolutely looking forward to making the most of the days ahead, starting with a good night’s rest.