Hobbiton

It was actually quite a pain to get to the Hobbiton Movie Set.  The nearest town with hotels combined with sightseeing sites would be Rotorua, and it took more than an hour to drive to Hobbiton.  And the Set Tour is still very popular apparently, from the queue of vehicles waiting to drive into the carpark.

In any case, my lousy mood at having to wake up early to reach the Set was very much lifted by the life-sized Gandalf greeting visitors at the Shire Store.

There are different 'Experiences' available for booking and it is quite recommended to make a booking and not simply show up and expect an available seat.  From the ticketing office, a 40-seater bus with a driver and guide brings visitors on a short ride to Hobbiton itself, with a short video onboard.  The guide brings the visitors on a perhaps 2 hour walking tour, explaining about the movie set and allowing everyone adequate time to take photos to their hearts' content.  At the end of the walked tour, visitors get a drink at the Green Dragon Inn.

It was a thrilling experience to see for myself where the Hobbits lived, and hear the guide explained why certain scenes in the Lord of the Rings movie did not quite correspond to the actual movie set: some scenes were actually shot at different locations in the set.  The highlight of the walking tour for me was definitely entering the Hobbit hole in Bagshot row, which was intrigately furnished.

There were a few people in the group I was in who had neither read Tolkien nor watched any Lord of The Rings or The Hobbit movies, and were basically clueless about what they were seeing.  I wonder why they would pay for this experience because it isn't exactly cheap.