A Visit To The Shire, 2nd Edition, Statement
Welcome to Middle Earth!
At the end of October, 2018, my wife, Jayne, and I visited the Hobbiton movie set situated on a family run farm near Matamata, in Waikato, New Zealand. As a fan of Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” films, I wanted to visit as many of the filming locations as time permitted. Hobbiton was an example. Jayne, however, had never seen any of the movies, and wasn’t quite sure of the value of spending the time and the money to visit a place in which she had little interest. On top of all of this, the day we arrived at the movie set, it was literally pouring rain as we entered the lot. Suddenly, the rains passed and we were left with broken clouds to view the magnificent grounds, “mecca” for a fan of the films.
But what we found most amazing in this bucolic setting was the attention to detail! Peter Jackson made it easy to fantasize about what the Hobbits found important and necessary in daily life, right down to the ornaments in their window decorations!
Traveling throughout New Zealand, it became apparent to me the reason why the films’ locations were chosen. The beauty and mystery that surrounded us truly gave us a glimpse into the fantasy world of the Hobbits in Middle Earth!
I hope you will enjoy your stroll through this mythological setting as you become transported back in time to the fairy tale land of Middle Earth! And remember, Mount Doom is always nearby!
*** Any image found in this series or on my website is available as a print purchase! Just email me at jerrygrasso96@yahoo.com.