Tuesday is the focus of our (or at least my) entire trip, the visit to Hobbiton. The Shire, the region where Hobbiton is located, appeared in both The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King. Scenes were shot at at the present location on sets consisting mainly of facades decorated with styrofoam. Following the shooting, the area was being dismantled, but had become a prime tourist location. It was revisited by Peter Jackson for The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey. The Hobbiton scenes were shot at the same location, but unlike the previous set, the existing one was constructed out of permanent materials so that it will last for decades, for the enjoyment of generations of tourists.
	The closest to Hobbiton that tourists can take their vehicles is The Shire's Rest, a cafe and souvenir shop that provides a buffer zone between the reality of New Zealand and the fantasy of Middle Earth. I thought Pegah had taken pictures of it, but she has only taken some interior shots, such is this one with me and a statue of Gandalf. Here we find that our private tour is booked, but for some reason our meal is not. Since we have been unable to find two extra people for our tour, I invite Craig and Rosie, two fellow fans who are waiting for the tour van, to accompany us on our tour and enjoy a free lunch. Since I have already paid for four people, the Shire's Rest staff refunds the cost of their two tickets to me.
	Here we are at last in Hobbiton! Pegah is celebrating at the break in the surrounding hedgerow where Bilbo ran out without his pocket handkerchief to join Thorin and Company on their epic adventure. I had hoped to photograph Pegah, and for her to photograph me, on either side of the path so I could photoshop us into the picture of Bilbo to appear to be looking at him incredulously as he hurried past. I wasn't able to explain what I wanted, however, so the shots didn't come out as I had intended, and we lost the opportunity. Anyway, we are really here at last. It is a real place, and it is easy, for me anyway, to get lost in the illusion that we are not really in New Zealand anymore.
	One of the things we immediately noticed is that the hobbit holes, or smials, are of different scales. Those designed for scenes involving hobbit actors are full sized, appropriate for the sizes of real hobbit homes. Here Pegah is playing a hobbit lady inviting guests to visit, cleverly hiding the fact that she has hiking shoes on, not big, hairy, bare hobbit feet! At another hole, I am investigating a somewhat smaller doorway, intended for intermediate and forced perspective shots with normal sized actors. Although they all appear sturdy and comfortable, the smials obviously accommodate hobbits of varying means, from large and well-kept to little more than holes in the ground, all appropriately aged and weathered.
	Here Pegah and I are investigating what appear to be the smallest scale smials, appropriate for shots involving actors playing normal sized people against a backdrop of a hobbit-sized dwelling. The one on the left is obviously the home of a well-to-do hobbit, with a doorbell, brick vaneer, two ample windows (with expected curtains and knick-knacks within) and a large flower garden. On the right is an unlighted door into a more simple abode, possibly that of a woodcarver exhibiting his wares. It is said that things are built to endure in the Shire, and that all hobbits have a love of things that grow. Both characteristics are evident in all of the homes we have seen in Hobbiton.
	Although round doors and windows are common features of hobbit architecture, they are not universal. Hobbit building has long since been altered, improved by devices learned from dwarves, elves or men, or discovered by themselves. Here Pegah poses on a conventional-looking hobbit porch, protected by an arched roof, that is still the entrance to a comfortable hobbit hole. Just down the path is what apears to be the home and workshop of a builder, although exactly what it is he builds is not obvious. We tried to find the blue door of the "grumpy hobbit" in LOTR until we realized that none of the LOTR dwellings remain. Everything in Hobbiton has been rebuilt since that time.
	That is particularly true of Bag End, a place of special magnificence. Here we see our tour guide, Jon, just inside the gate. It is definitely Bilbo's home, not Frodo's that we saw briefly in The Fellowship of the Ring. This one, enlarged and redecorated by Bilbo after he returned unexpectedly wealthy from his "unexpected journey," shows no sign of the damage done by the Sackville-Bagginses many years before. Here Jon also takes a picture of Craig, Rosie, me and Pegah standing next to the sign that the young Frodo put there in preparation for their joint birthday party. Bilbo's green door is slighly adjar, revealing a paneled wall with a broom leaning against it. We weren't on party business, so we couldn't go in.
	Dominating all of Hobbiton is the huge "party tree," here strung with lanterns for Bilbo and Frodo's birthday party. It is a "must visit" place! I find it an emotional experience to actually walk up and touch it, as I had almost 12 years ago, to assure myself once again that it is a real tree, in a real place, frequented by real people. Near to it, in the field next to The Water, is a pavilion that will later be enclosed to provide a place to store fireworks and perhaps to wash dishes. I am told that there are occasionally real parties here in the evening, and we note that the pathways and many of the hobbit homes have subtle lights that must make this a merry place after dark.
	Scattered here and there around Hobbiton are reminders of the rustic, simple life beloved by hobbits. Pegah and I have our pictures taken on a huge ale cart that says, Delving and Oatlock Pine Ale, Southfarthing on the back. I am a little confused, since Michel Delving was the chief town of the Shire, located in the Westfarthing, near Little Delving. This was the capitol of the Shire, the "town hole." I am further confused by the fact that this huge cask has no tap, so it is not obvious how the cask can be drained (or even filled). No doubt the hobbits can find a way. Here Pegah sits on the bridge overlooking The Water and Sandyman's mill. The mill has an overshot waterwheel but no higher water to power it.
	Jon has been leading us to the Green Dragon Inn, mindful of the fact that the Inn is on a tight schedule and has allocated only so much time for our stay and a specific time for us to arrive. I am perhaps somewhat less than enthusiastic about getting there, since I am still annoyed (to say no more), that we are not going to have a real meal in spite of over four hundred dollars American that I previously paid extra for precisely that purpose. Still, the Green Dragon is definitely a happy place full of good fellowship and cheer, a perfect place to dispel my grumpy mood. There are lots of tourists about, many of whom do not appear to have any idea of what they are seeing. I should be thankful I'm here!
	The whole reason for an expensive private tour was so that we could have an actual meal in the Green Dragon Inn. I have been looking forward to this for years! Our menu was to have been: main medium seared scotch fillet, lamb and mint sausages, a selection of fresh breads, steamed potatoes with parsley butter, garden fresh green salad, ham and barley salad, coleslaw with a ricotta and lemon dressing, pickled baby beets, and berry cheesecake. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication during the last two months, and our menu selection was never entered. As a result, we have ordered steak and ale pie and berry muffins, washed down with Southfarthing Crystal Clear Ale from the "blackboard."
	Still, any kind of lunch in the Green Dragon Inn is more than most visitors experience, so I am trying to make the best of what for me, at least, is a big disappointment. Pegah has thoughtfully not commented on it. We and our guests are enjoying a reserved table in the quiet "nook" part of the Inn, and a relaxing after dinner moment in the "snug." We also have an opportunity to look around the entire Inn and realize that it is not the same inn featured in LOTR. That one was strictly a movie set, with only enough background and furnishings for the cameras to see. This Green Dragon Inn is the real thing, built like everything else in the Shire to withstand the test of time.
	All in all, it has been a pleasant trip, and I, for one, am glad to have made it. It occurs to me that the Alexander family that owns the 1,250 acre sheep and cattle farm on which the site is located has plenty of room to expand into a hobbit-themed luxury hotel. Perhaps one day people will be able to stay in the Shire to rest and enjoy the "simple life," not unlike Dollywood or colonial Williamsburg. Unfortunately for us, however, we have a trip to make to Auckland, a campervan to turn in, a candid discussion about maintenance, and a flight to catch to Brisbane. As we enter the van that takes us back to the Shire's Rest, we reluctantly say goodby to Hobbiton, the Shire, and Middle Earth.
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