Just got back from a week in the North Island of NZ and as part of our trip we did the tour of the Hobbiton movie set and also some tramping (as the Kiwis call it) on the Tongariro Crossing which takes you right past Mt Ruapehu (in fact you can climb to the top if you want), which was the volcano used by PJ in LOTR to represent Mt Doom.
I thought I would post my review of the tour here in case anyone else was thinking of visiting Hobbiton. Also there are lots of pics below!
In short – we had a great morning and the tour is well worth it for LOTR fans. Cost is NZD$75 pp for a 45-60 min tour. **Note – it is best to go on the first tour of the morning (9.30) as this means you can get landscape shots of Hobbiton without the view overrun by tourists. The tour is very popular and they can get 2000+ visitors per day. You are driven into the site by bus in group sizes of up to 50 (our group had < 20 people – benefits of getting out of bed early!). You are only allowed to access the site with a guide and it can’t be seen from the road. The guide takes you around the set and provides lots of interesting info about how the set was made etc. Our guide was pretty good, but I imagine they are all following pretty much the same script.
The movie set is now a permanent tourist attraction after being reconstructed for the Hobbit movies (for LOTR is was made mostly out of polystyrene and other less durable material, but now it’s made out of timber, stone etc.). There are about 40 hobbit holes to view, plus The Green Dragon (which has been completely fitted out inside – something that happened post movies as a way of entertaining tourists). We even had a ‘pint’ in the GD (well small cup) as this was part of the tour. However, you only get about 10 mins to enjoy the GD as it’s at the end of the tour and you have to make way for the next group (welcome to factory tourism NZ style). The Old Mill is also there, along with various Hobbit gardens, the party tree and tent etc.
You are allowed to enter 1 hobbit hole, but as you would expect there is only dirt and some supporting timbers behind. No hole interiors have been fitted out for tourists. You are not allowed to enter Bag End though you can see the entrance way has been fitted out with interior timbers to allow shooting of doorway scenes for the movies. Apparently Bag End is the most excavated hobbit hole and can fit 100 people standing inside.
The guide provides various insights into PJs vision for Hobbiton and his meticulous attention to detail. For example, the oak tree that sits atop Bag End was brought in from elsewhere. The tree had fallen in another location, was cut into pieces by the film crew then re-assembled in Hobbiton. Each leaf is fake and was glued on by hand. This was OK for the LOTR movies, but when it came to the Hobbit of course the tree was too old (since The Hobbit is a prequel) so PJ needed a new, younger tree (but looking similar to the one in LOTR). So he tore down the old fake tree and made a new one completely out of concrete, plaster, fake leaves etc. There were also stories of the crew painstakingly removing leaves from certain trees only to replace them with more appropriate (and fake) foliage.
Anyway, here are some happy snaps. Let me know if you have any questions.
Looking across the pond to the Green Dragon. PJ relocated all the frogs from this pond as they made too much noise during filming!
Sam and Rosie's hobbit hole
Inside the Green Dragon
The Old Mill
Mt Doom - we didn't climb it. It rained all day during our hike.
