Hobbiton and a night market

Today I took a tour of Hobbiton, the movie set of the Shire from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. Hobbiton is on a farm in the rolling hills of New Zealand. I've said this a few times in this blog, but you didn't have to try very hard to believe that you're in Middle Earth. The film site is permanent with the hobbit holes dug into the side of the hills.

Some were large, some were small, but all were adorable and peaceful. My tour group was relatively small and I met a girl from Seoul and a man from Sicily. We strolled passed a few hobbit holes, stopped inside one, and visited Samwise Gamgee's house and the Baggins' residence. We even got to see the field where Bilbo's birthday party was held in the first LOTR movie. For our final stop on our visit to the Shire, we had a Hobbit beer at the Greendragon Inn. The view from here was incredible. 

Even though people travel for thousands of miles to visit Hobbiton, the farm it is built on is still functional. They do use buses to transport people to and from the farm, but they use ceramic mugs for the free drink they provide. The land was pristine; no trash in sight, and clear water in the lakes. This place also attracts lots of people from far and wide who want to work at Hobbiton. This makes this place fairly sustainable, ecologically and economically. 

After my time at Hobbiton, I caught a bus to Rotorua. Right after stepping off the bus, the smell of sulfur from the geothermal vents hits you. It wasn't as suffocating as you'd think; it reminded me of the 4th of July right after all of the fireworks. That night was a night market a block from my hostel. There were Maori musicians and many vendors selling almost every kind of food you can imagine. I ate and listed to the music until I couldn't stand the cold. The further South I travel, the colder it gets because it is almost winter in the Southern hemisphere.  By the end of my adventure in New Zealand I'll regret not bringing my winter coat.