Goodbye Auckland, Hello Hobbiton

Click on the thumbnail above to watch the video in Quicktime.

Click here to watch the video in Windows Media player.

At this time last year, we were in New Zealand! Sigh. To celebrate the one-year anniversary of our New Zealand vacation, I thought it would be nice to review our brief stop in Hobbiton, one of the sets in the Lord of the Rings films. For the three of you who aren’t aware, The Lord of the Rings was largely shot in New Zealand. The sheep farmers who allowed their land to be used as the hobbit village subsequently decided herding tourists through their property would be a good deal more profitable than herding sheep. And as you’ll see, this place attracts tourists from all over the world. Of course, when you see the brochures, they make it appear as if the set still looks like it does in the movies -- complete with Bilbo’s rustic home and a garden full of giant cabbages. But unfortunately, they had already begun deconstructing the set before the farmers decided to open their new venture, and the producer of the films (New Line) wouldn’t allow them to return it to the same state as that used in the trilogy. Thus, let’s just say the village wasn’t quite as polished as we had anticipated. And by the way, when you see the intro, keep in mind I was suffering from a serious case of jetlag.

The Quicktime version of the video is much better quality than the Windows Media version. Hence, the Quicktime version is the default on this entry.