In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit...

Let's just start out by saying that our visit to Hobbiton was something that we had all looked forward to ever since we started even dreaming of coming to New Zealand.  It's not the reason we came, but once we committed to our year here, Hobbiton was placed at the very top of our long to-do list.  So when you've looked forward to something for such a long time, sometimes it's built up so much that when it actually happens, it's difficult for it to live up to the expectations.  Not so with this visit.  It was all we had hoped for and more!

This movie site was used for filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but was then torn down, as all of the movie sites were, when filming was finished.  It was still visited as a tourist attraction even without the hobbit structures. When Peter Jackson committed to making the Hobbit, he had it rebuilt and the Hobbit movies were filmed here and it now remains a permanent tourist attraction.  A fully functioning Green Dragon Inn was built to host events and is a stop on all tours.  They are working right now on lighting the area for evening events and will eventually even be adding effects like smoking chimneys.  They were also working on the tree above Bag End.  The tree used for filming was not able to stand up to prolonged exposure.  We were able to see the limbs in production and the trunk is in place and is visible in our pictures.  Even so, it was perfect just the way we saw it.

Bag End

Sam's House

Green Dragon Inn

The Party Tree

Hobbit holes

There were so many of these adorable Hobbit homes!  There are over 40 of them in the Shire.  They are each unique and have such charming details on and around them that give clues to their vocation.  The two weeks leading up to filming, they had people go up from each home and hang laundry on the clotheslines, so as to create paths in the grass that showed the homes being occupied.  Oh, the details!

Here's a fun Hobbit name generator to discover your very own Hobbit name.

Kind regards,

The Toadfoot family

Popo and Pearl

Molly, Rosie Posie, Todo, and Ruby

Taking the Cure: Rotorua, Day 1

Well, in this year of vacation, we needed a break, so we're on holiday this week.  We've decided to check out the most popular vacation areas on the North Island: Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, and Lake Taupo.  Today was our first day in Rotorua, which is known for amazing geothermal activity.  It's also known for it's extreme sulphuric odor.  We were told, and it's true, that you can smell Rotorua before you can see it.  But we have gotten used to the smell and only gag occasionally...

We started out the morning by going to a local craft market by Lake Rotorua.  We then found Kuirau Park and had a great walk around the geothermal pools and ponds.

A few pictures of the bubbling mud and water pools.

This boiling area has just come to surface and has been cordoned off with fencing.

A few family pics

To counteract the sulphur smells, they have a lovely scented garden in the park.

After all that walking around, we needed some Starbucks to keep us going!  We also took a look around the CBD and scoped out some good souvenir shops to stop at when we have time.

After lunch it was time to "Take the Cure" at the Polynesian Spa.  Rotorua has been famous for it's thermal spas since the 19th century.  I had the mud polish and aix massage combo.  It was heavenly.  Cris and the kids swam in the Family Spa and hot mineral pools and had a great time, too.

After playing and relaxing we were starving.  We happened upon the most charming pizza restaurant, The Pizza Library Co.  We ordered three pizzas: Charlottes Web, James & the Giant Peach, and The Jungle Book.  Yum yum!  We ordered take away, but couldn't resist taking a few pics as we waited.

With our tummies full, we're heading to bed.  We've got a busy day tomorrow - we're heading back to the Shire and visiting Hobbiton!