From Hobbiton To Blue Lake

Because Connor wasn't going to be in New Zealand for very long, I wanted to do my best to share parts of my childhood as well as some touristy things with him. Being the Lord of the Rings fan that he is, I knew I had to take him to Hobbiton.

Any local will tell you that if you live in an area, you will have missed out on some of the classic touristy stuff that you can do. When I had found out that Chris also hadn't been to Hobbiton, I did my best to convince him that he should come with us. I succeeded.

I've been to Hobbiton twice at this point and I've decided that my very favorite place is the Green Dragon. I only wish I knew the song that Merry and Pippin sing about it.

Last time I was here, there were generic mugs to have your pint in. This time around they had Green Dragon pint glasses. And I thought to myself: "They have pint glasses? I'm getting one."

We also popped into the gift shop. And wouldn't you know it, one of Wei Siew's patterns is in there with Stansborough yarn.

After Hobbiton, Sarah and her boyfriend Ben invited Connor and I to hike around Blue Lake. Her father has some legendary stories (many of which Chris has been a part of) so I asked Sarah if anything crazy ever happens to her. In other words, is it genetic? She said she couldn't remember. Famous last words.
Rosie, the dog who was with us and has infinite energy, spotted a duck and went out into the lake to get it. Every time she got close, the duck would fly just a few feet further. We thought the duck was stupid... until we realized it had ducklings. We then knew that not only was the duck not going to leave, neither was Rosie. Sarah made the bold decision to swim out into the cold lake to get Rosie. She almost succeeded, but Rosie spotted the duckling and started anew. At the point we decided on a different strategy. Rosie loves her people, so we walked on, hoping that she would realize we were gone and come looking for us. A bit down the trail we realized that we couldn't hear the duck quacking anymore. We knew it had ended, but we didn't know how. Did Rosie catch the duck? Did she drown? A few seconds later Rosie came charging down the trail.

I felt quite lucky to have gotten to see another part of New Zealand that I didn't know existed. The evening was beautiful and I got to spend it with great company.

Hobbiton

Seeing how we were in Middle Earth, we stopped by the last remaining set from Lord of the Rings: Hobbiton. All the other sets have been pulled down. Although as we saw in Rivendell, there were a few signs explaining the area. Our guide in Hobbiton, Steve, was excellent. 

Some of the hobbit holes are made much smaller to enhance the illusion of Gandalf being much larger than everyone.

We also learned that in order to age the fences, this lichen isn't actually lichen. It is paint and bits of wood, and other things that were added to look like lichen. I think it's quite convincing.

As we walked up the hill in Hobbiton, we were given a peek of some future hobbit holes not yet seen in the future Hobbit movies.

I think I would make an excellent hobbit. I've already claimed my hobbit hole.

At the top of the hill sits the most famous hobbit hole of them all: Bag End. If the Baggins family were to ever move out, I think I might choose this hobbit hole instead.

The view from Bag End is quite good. You can even see across the pond to the Green Dragon. 

 

Although the inside of Green Dragon was built and filmed in Wellington, they later chose to build an interior in the one in Hobbiton. It's actually the second Green Dragon. The first one was burned for a scene in the Lord of the Rings and had to be rebuilt for The Hobbit.

I had the pleasure of enjoying a drink at the Green Dragon with Miss Pickles, the resident moggy (cat). She looked like the happiest creature ever, sitting on her chair next to the fire.

After the drink, we had to say goodbye to Hobbiton. Although before we left I snapped a quick picture of the Party Tree. I only wish we could see everything lit up at night like it was in the movie.