A Nerd Full 90 Minutes in the Shire

I am a 66 year old man. Should I be so excited for my much anticipated visit to Hobbiton? Screw it, yes I can after all, I am a 66 year old retired man and can do anything (legal) I want. As an added surprise, it seems Nonie has also harboured a deep (hidden) desire to visit the Shire.

Day 14, and a visit to the shire does not come cheap and it requires reservations. I do not remember Gandalf or the dwarfs needing reservations. I had read that reservations were recommended so made them about 3 weeks out and what I found was scary. There were not many options to choose from as most of them had already been booked. 

We were booked for the 10:45 tour so it was another early day as we had about a 60 minute drive to get to the visitor centre. No horse driven carts chauffeured by Hobbits today, just  completely full 50 passenger buses leaving every 10 minutes from the centre.

The day was glorious. The colours, especially the blues and greens we experienced in New Zealand are different from the blues and greens that are found in B.C. Can’t provide a definitive reason for this difference but it really became apparent upon our arrival to Hobbiton.

As we strolled into the shire, we found fresh laundry hung out to dry and fragrant smoke rising from chimneys which gave us hope that we were going to meet some hobbits. Perhaps, if lucky, a visiting dwarf in between quests.

Things looked up when we found the door into Bilbo’s place slightly ajar but he must have seen us coming and slipped on the ring to avoid the adulation.

From Bilbo’s place we could see the Green Dragon Inn and the promise of strong mead to soften our disappointment. Perhaps we might find a Hobbit or two or a drunken dwarf spoiling for a fight.   

On the way to the Inn, attracted by a “For Sale” sign, we just had to try a Hobbit hole on for size. With a little gymnastics, we had a fit although the lack of a bathroom became a deal breaker.

More disappointment, as there was not a drop of mead available at the Green Dragon Inn but the dark and moody Dragon’s Ale was pretty tasty and dark and moody but not a drunken dwarf in sight.

90 minutes later, it was time to end our visit to the Shire which was I must admit was slightly tarnished by the distinct shortage of hobbits. Thank heavens for the dark and moody Dragons Ale.

So it was on the bus and back to the visitor centre. 

Time for lunch.   

Tomorrow it is off to Auckland and our flight to Sydney.