Are Hobbiton's Hobbit Holes Inhabited?

Come to New Zealand, they said! Go bungy jumping, they said! Watch Maori warriors do the Haka, they said! Catch a whiff of rotten eggs gas as you bathe in hot mud and see the geysers bubble and hiss, they said! Visit a Hobbit hole, they said!

Wait a minute! Hobbit holes?

Well, if you're not a fan of Tolkien's ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy (books or movies) or ‘The Hobbit’ precursor (filmed afterwards, illogically), then you may want to consider stopping here. But, if curiosity has already gotten the better of you, and I know it has, then, 

“Read on, MacDuff, and damn'd be him that first cries, call Ken's bluff!’”

It was Day 3 of our vacation and our return to Aotearoa (the Land of the Long White Cloud) and, it would appear, the Land of the Short White Hobbit. In spite of having lived in NZ for five years (some 34 years ago), I had underestimated the time to drive south from Auckland to the Alexander Farm near Matamata and it’s apparently renowned farming diversification, the Hobbiton Movie Set, so the last few kilometres were travelled, in our hired SUV, at close to full gallop speed of Gandolph’s steed, Shadowfax: 

“Fast by the wind, but very smooth”

The small country road leading to our destination was narrow and winding, geographically confined by the picturesque rolling green hills, through which we wound our way, and which were punctuated by clusters of white sheep dots (this reminded me that NZ has a population of only 5 million but has 26 million sheep). Talk about flying along on a “wind and a prayer”, as I negotiated each bend, hoping and praying that nothing was coming the other way, for we had a pre-booked deadline to meet and the GPS was proving frustratingly over-optimistic with its estimates of distance to, and arrival time at, our destination for the day. 

Soon after arrival at the Shires Rest reception area, cafe and mandatory souvenir shop, we were whisked off on a tour bus, which took us down the short drive from reception to Hobbiton proper, where the magic would begin.  There was no ambling around the Hobbiton set on our own, presumably to maintain the magical wonder-look, to guard against the threat of sticky-fingered tourists ‘borrowing’ the realistic and functional props, and, no doubt, because this small section of movie heaven is located bang in the middle of the Alexander family's 500 hectare (1,200 acre) 13,000 sheep and 300 beef cattle farm. This would also explain why our tour guide, Bethany, capably ‘herded’ us around, as she regaled us with facts and info on Hobbiton's construction.

Once off the bus, we walked single file down a narrow lane which then opened up to reveal the spellbindingly beautiful village where hobbits were seen on the ‘big screen’ to work, live and play, with its hobbit holes, large duck pond, Green Dragon Inn, flour mill and other creature comforts and necessities, such as a large vegetable garden.

It seems that the majority of the 44 Hobbit Holes, located across the 12 acre Hobbiton site, are mostly facias only (sorry to spoil the magic), so don't put your bid in any time soon to buy one of these grass-roofed round-doored delights, with a mind to taking up residency with Bilbo, Frodo, Sam et al.  Behind each of the colourfully painted front doors reportedly lies a gap of no more than 2 metres, before you will be confronted by a retaining wall.  You see, the internal scenes, such as inside Bilbo's house (sorry, Hobbit Hole), delightfully called Bag End, were shot elsewhere, in Wellington. The future of Hobbiton looks rosier, however, as it appears that one of the rows of Hobbit Holes is to be redeveloped, resulting in three of the existing Hobbit Hole facades being “transformed into a series of themed rooms, cosy enough for a family of Hobbits.”  The estimated completion date for this tourist experience to be enjoyed is December 2023.

Another reason for excluding entry beyond the typical Hobbit Hole facade, other than being stopped abruptly by a retaining wall, and for holding off on Hobbit Hole property investment, is that the Hobbit ‘inhabitations’ have been constructed to three different scales (each designated by a different door colour), so as to present the illusion of the hobbit and dwarf actors being much smaller than the human actors, such as Gandolph. 

Each Hobbit Hole has, “… a garden, with flowers, herbs and vegetables,” and the Hobbits' " … love of beautiful gardens oozes from every corner."

For those of you who may remember (from the movies or the books), Bag End was the location of Bilbo's eleventy first (111th) birthday party, with entry strictly by invitation and hence “No admittance, except on party business”. It was also at the top of the hill, above all the other Hobbit Holes.

To complete our movie magic tour, we descended to 'The Water' and walked on past the mill building, over the stone arch bridge beside it, and onto the Green Dragon Inn, “where Hobbits gathered to drink, gossip and discus their day,” much like we tourists did.

Once inside the Green Dragon, we were offered refreshments to help us soak up the atmosphere of this fully working pub.  While most of the visitors socialised while sitting and enjoying their choice of one of two traditional ales, an apple cider or ginger beer, all “handcrafted and exclusive to Hobbiton Movie Set,” I was totally enthralled by the craftsmanship of this interior reconstruction.

Afterthought

Some of you may have noticed that, although my photos of Hobbiton may have brought to life the backdrop to where the movie characters appeared in the Shire region of Middle-Earth, the characters themselves are, of course, missing.  At this point, however, I must point out that I did indeed meet Gandolph, the Wizard, on first entering the reception building at Hobbiton, and, while he sent his regards to all my readers, he also conveyed his regrets at not being available to answer your doubtless many questions on the magical bringing to life of Tolkien's masterpieces.

I must also say how impressed I was at Gandolph's appearance at Wellington International Airport, a week or so after meeting him at Hobbiton.  As you can see below, he was being transported at the time by Gwaihir, the eagle, and was in the process of performing a reconnaissance of the airport and surrounds to assist air traffic control in ensuring that our Qantas flight would be Orc free.

Further Reading

The ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Hobbit’ trilogies were filmed at various locations throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand.  These locations were chosen by Peter Jackson and his crew, in order to most closely represent Tolkien's world of Middle-Earth.  The result of this impressive display of cinematographic imagery, however, was to also showcase, whether coincidentally or otherwise, the magnificence and diversity of the landscape that is on show to visitors to the Land of the Long White Cloud.

For a detailed presentation of the various sites filmed throughout the trilogies, I suggest that you start here:

• Ian Brodie, The Hobbit Motion Picture Trilogy, Location Guidebook, Harper Colins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited, 2014.

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When not researching the weird or the wonderful, the comical or the cultured, the sinful or the serious, I chase my creative side, the results of which can be seen as selected photographs of my travels on my website at:

https://ken-boddie.squarespace.com 

The author of the above, Ken Boddie, besides being a sometime poet and occasional writer, is an enthusiastic photographer, rarely leisure-travelling without his Canon, and loves to interact with other like-minded people with diverse interests.

Ken's three day work week (part time commitment) as a consulting engineer allows him to follow his photography interests, and to plan trips to an ever increasing list of countries and places of scenic beauty and cultural diversity.