Day 73 — Hobbiton

If you are even just a tiny tinsy fan of the movie “Lord of the Rings” visiting Hobbiton in New Zealand is a must! Yes, it is quite an attraction. On the top season days they manage to push up to 3000 people through. When we went they were on full capacity as it was sold out for the day. We had heard from other travellers that it would be a good idea to book quite a few days in advance and so we did. And we also found out that it was ok to overnight on their parking lot if you are in a camper van. And so we did that too. We arrived the day before and just seeing the entire operation operating was a spectacle for itself.

They had placed the visitor centre, cafe, toilets, parking lot about a 10 minutes away. You can enter Hobbiton only by a Hobbiton-tour-bus. When it was our turn we came across four try-out people which just walked up the street and tried to enter without paying the hefty ticket price. When our tour guide and the bus driver caught sight of those, they immediately stopped the bus, jumped out and made firmly clear that they are walking on private grounds and must turn back immediately. So, they did. And the bus driver stopped the next bus which drove out and told him to hold an eye on those four. In Hobbiton — Ordnung muss sein!

But anyway. It was so worth it! We have never seen anything more cute than this. And despite the tons of people, it was a fantastic and great tour. Everything was well managed and so authentic. Just as you see it in the movie. If there is one place on earth — please take me back to Hobbiton!!!