By: Noemi Gamel

Before coming to New Zealand, I was secretly ashamed that I was most looking forward to visiting the Hobbiton movie set on the North Island. My shame diffused when I saw the safety video on the Air New Zealand, which featured a Middle-Earth theme complete with hobbits, dwarves, and promotional words by Frodo himself, Elijah Wood.

To further add to our excitement about visiting Middle Earth, I mean, New Zealand, we watched the third installment of the franchise The Hobbit in Queenstown. When we finally arrived for our tour of the Hobbiton movie sets, we could barely contain our excitement.

The kids took a picture with Gandalf and then we were taken by bus to the sets. It was truly a magical experience. The hobbit holes were delightfully detailed. We learned Peter Jackson’s secret of forced perspective to make the hobbits look small and Gandalf look tall. We saw different sections of the set where various scenes were filmed, including when Gandalf and Frodo first enter Hobbiton at the start of The Fellowship of the Ring; the scene of Bilbo’s party under the birthday tree, and the scene when young Bilbo in the first Hobbit movie runs through a field to catch up to the dwarves after changing his mind about going on the adventure.

I am a casual Tolkien fan. I read The Hobbit as a teenager, but I have not read The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have watched all six of Peter Jackson’s films. Walking through the set made me appreciate the time, effort, and investment that the whole country put forth to make these films happen. No trip to New Zealand should go without a visit to Hobbiton.