NZ Part 5 : Enchanting Hobbiton

On this post I think I will let the photos do the talking.

Hobbiton cost NZ$75 per person. Kali lah. Kata hubs dan Kaia, kami tak nak masuk (hubs thought it is going to be boring and Kaia said his friend said it is lemau). I said ok, but the tour is going to be 3 hours or so. So you have to wait that long. Lamanya kata hubs. In the end, they both decided to join us on the tour. Kata hubs later, nasib baik masuk juga. Amat cantik.

I cant say this often enough, I think. Mesti visit Hobbiton kalau dah sampai Auckland. Tak boleh tidak.

We booked our tickets on-line. You can change your tour schedule up to 2 hours before it starts. All info are available on their website.  You park your car and wait for the bus at the Shire's Rest (that's the main entrance). The bus will take you into the farm and Hobbiton. You cant drive yourself in.

The bus driver was very entertaining, telling a lot of details about the farm and how it was chosen for the movie.

The road to Hobbiton berbukit. Beralun cantik. Beautiful hills with green grass. You will see many sheeps on the farm. Sheeps pun cantik. Tak ada yang tak cantik. Itu yang hairan tu.

I call this the grand view of Hobbiton. Saya kata, macam scenery dalam teletubbies (sebab Sara suka teletubbies so we've been watching a lot of that). The colors seem to pop out of the photo. Atau mungkin dalam cerita kartun..

She is Grace. She was our guide and knows every little thing about hobbits, Hobbiton and The Ring Trilogy.

She said, give me a show of hands. How many have seen the trilogy. How many have seen The Hobbits. And how many have read the books. How many not done any of the above. Ada juga makcik-pakcik yang berumur angkat tangan to the last question. Kata Grace, selalunya orang macam ni datang sebab want to make the people at home jealous. haha (nasib baik saya made a point to watch War of The Five Armies and prequels of that; kalau tak kena own up to the last q).

All you do is walk, walk and walk at Hobbiton. And take (lots of) pretty photos. 

Isnt this gorgeous? This is almost like a fair ground.

And we pose and take (even more) pictures.

Fyi, make sure you walk close behind your guide during the tour. Otherwise you might not hear what she has to say.

And some more photos.

Sampai last, semua orang pun dah letih posing gambar untuk saya..


And this is the Green Dragon pub where the tour officially ends. You will be served with the drink of your choice here. We chose the non-alcoholic ginger beer (that was the only non-alcoholic drink served in fact). And fyi, we were informed the ginger-beer is specially brewed for Hobbiton and it is the best in NZ (katanya). We bought a bottle and then bought some other brand of ginger beer at the supermarket to compare. And yes, the one bought at Hobbiton tasted so much better..

Our last view of Hobbiton as we walked to the bus (I love how everything is reflected on the water).

As Grace said goodbye to us on the bus, she told us this was officially the first tour that she conducted on her own. She said I hope you have enjoyed it and thank you for making it easy for me. Awww. Everyone on the bus clapped for her. She was really sweet.

A mighty lone bull on top of a hill at Hobbiton.

Hobbiton is one of the places we visited that I was eager to write about. It was seriously wonderful.

Kata seorang kenalan, dia bukan peminat hobbit jadi dia tak visit Hobbiton. I think that is a mistake. Kena pergi sebab tempat itu terlalu cantik. Saya agak mungkin juga ikon untuk NZ.

We visited Matamata town center for a bit. It is a small and quaint place. I asked hubs, can we move here you think..?

We were in Rotorua next.





~ xoxo