In the hobbits' Shire

Through the internet, I had found a job on an onion and pumpkin farm, which was supposed to start on Monday, January 13th, 2020. But before that, the most important thing had to be done: Hobbiton (or The Shire)!

In Matamata, the gateway to the Shire, I met up with Pascal and Cori on Saturday. The city information center was renovated a few years ago and now looks like it came straight out of 'The Lord of the Rings' movies.

Since the film set is located on private farmland, it can only be visited with a tour. We were taken to the set from Shire's Rest, a cafe and souvenir shop nearby, by bus. The tours start every 10 minutes and are usually fully booked. So, you won't be alone there... Along the way, we had to wait for a while because a herd of sheep was blocking the road.

And then, a few steps, and we had arrived in the Shire!!! I am a big Lord of the Rings fan and was overjoyed to see the film set with my own eyes.

The set is located on the Alexander family's sheep farm. Peter Jackson, the director, flew over the farm in search of a suitable film set and was convinced that he had found the right place for his Shire. After the filming of The Lord of the Rings movies, the sets were dismantled. When The Hobbit was filmed in 2011, everything was rebuilt, this time more sturdy, and left as it is. Since then, you can take a tour of the Shire. Probably a quite profitable business!

Everything is designed with great attention to detail: the small gardens and vegetable beds, the laundry hanging on the clotheslines, a fishing rod by the lake, a set table, the smoke rising from one of the chimneys...

However, the over 40 hobbit holes are only sets, you can't go inside them unfortunately. The holes are all different sizes. This was a trick by the director to make the characters appear larger or smaller when filmed in front of the holes.

You walk along the paths, passing by the festival area, Bilbo's and Sam's house, the mill, and so on, and you always discover something new. I would have liked to explore the grounds on my own. With all the people, it was quite crowded and it took forever to take a picture without any other people in it.

At the end of the tour, we had 15 minutes to enjoy a beer or cider at the cozy Green Dragon. And just like that, it was back to reality!