The morning after our visit to Te Puia, we were up early for a fifteen minute drive to our hobbit breakfast at the Green Dragon Inn in Hobbiton. The inn itself is beautiful and oozes ambience -- one would not be too surprised to see Aragorn sitting around back in the corner.
And the breakfast would have satisfied any hungry hobbit. It certainly filled us up. And there was enough for seconds -- and thirds -- and…..
After stuffing ourselves, we went on a stroll through Hobbiton. I loved how each hobbit hole was set with props that indicated the interests and occupations of the particular hobbit who lived there. For example, here is the artist’s worktable.
Each doorway, no matter how humble, was unique and adorable. It was difficult to not take photos of all 42 of them. Here are some of my favorites:
Here is Sam Gamgee’s home:
And here, of course, is Bag-End, home of Bilbo and Frodo. It was a little disappointing to find out that there are no interiors to these hobbit holes, especially Bag-End -- apparently those scenes were shot in a film studio elsewhere in New Zealand. But, it only makes sense when you think about it -- how could they get all that camera and lighting equipment into a hobbit hole?
Around the corner from the front door of Bilbo’s place is the famous sign on the gate: “No admittance, except on party business.”
And in the valley below is the magnificent party tree.
And here we are looking out over the Green Dragon Inn and the Shire.
It is interesting to note that this entire, well organized, tourist operation is run by the family who owns the farm where Hobbiton was built. The first time that they built the set for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was with the understanding that the land would be returned to its original state, which it was. However, when they returned to rebuild it for The Hobbit movies, the landowners asked that it be built as a permanent set and they now employ over 200 local people and Matamata is a thriving, and very cute little town, as a result.
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