Day 52: Hobbiton

A dream came true today. Hobbiton is something I have been looking forward to since day one, and as it says above, it's day fifty-two.

But before I get to Hobbiton, that wasn't the only thing I did today.

This morning I went to a place called Wai-O-Tapu, a highly active and expansive thermal area. You may remember the smell I was talking about in yesterday's post, well this is the source. Thankfully it didn't smell accordingly. But it still smelled bad. Why couldn't thermal activity be associated with cinnamon? Why does it have to be sulfur? This is one of the things I question Mother Nature about every day.

All jokes aside, the park was really fascinating to walk through. The shuttle first stopped at a boiling mud pool. It's exactly what it sounds like, a big bubbling pool of mud, creating small domes of mud before they burst.

His muddah was a muddah.

Next stop was the Lady Knox Geyser. This was really awesome because I've never seen a geyser, even though there's some in my own country. I'll make it to you someday Yellowstone. This geyser erupts every 24 to 72 hours naturally, but they discovered a way to make it erupt on demand. A park ranger dumps a bag of natural, environmentally safe material into the mouth of the geyser, and a few minutes later, it's shooting water into the sky. Turns out I was actually in the "splash zone," but I didn't get soaked, just a warm sprinkling.

I guess it should be called the sprinkle zone. 

After the geyser, the shuttle dropped off at the start of the walking trails. The driver was very adamant about being back by 12:30 to make it back into town for the Hobbiton tour, so I planned accordingly. I was ok with missing one or two things here if it meant I would make it to Hobbiton.

The walking trail went in a loop, passing by numerous craters and boiling multi-colored pools. The craters were formed when acidic underground water eventually ate away the rock until the surface collapsed in on itself. The last crater formed almost fifty years ago, I wonder when the next one will appear.

The pools of water were each a different color based on what type of mineral was present. The so called "Devil's Ink Pots" were a dark brown, while the "Devil's Bath" was a bright green. A lot of the craters and pools had some relation to the devil. The biggest pool in the area was the "Champagne Pool," with greenish-blue water rising up from underground and a bright orange rim, giving it a striking contrast. More steam rose from this pool than anywhere else, and when the wind pushed it towards me, the smell was almost too much.

The Devil's Ink Pots

The Devil's Bath

The Champagne Pool

The water from this pool overflowed onto the surrounding area, creating a sort of mineral slide as the water deposited its mineral content on the side of the hill. There was a boardwalk right across this, it was very cool to be able to walk across this spot because the rest of the park was very quick to remind you to stay on the path.

I returned to the parking lot with a good amount of time to spare. Hobbiton was my priority, but I definitely had a great time at Wai-O-Tapu. Can't undersell it at all. If I had done something other than Hobbiton today it would have been the highlight. Let that be a testament to how awesome today was.

After some unfortunate delays on the way back into town I just barely made my bus. I was immensely worried on the way back that I would miss it and all would be lost, but I made it. Even though I was the last person on that bus, I still made it.

The trip took about an hour, but we had a great bus driver who was good company.

We finally pulled into the set, met our tour guide Paul, and entered the Shire.

I have seen the movies, I've seen pictures, but as I've learned many times on this trip, there is nothing like the real thing. The first few hobbit homes were spectacular. Beautiful circle doors built right into the hills. What really amazed me was the amount of effort that went into this set. Every home (of which there were forty-four total) was different from the last, be it in the colors, the size, or the details. As our tour guide explained you were able to tell what each imaginary hobbit did for a living based on what was outside his or her house. There was a carpenter hobbit, a painter, a fisherman, and even a beekeeper.

The beekeeper's house. The bee hive on the left and honeycomb on the right. There were also several other hives around the house. 

And even a honey stand where the beekeeper makes his money. 

Here's a few of my favorites. My absolute favorite though is the thumbnail. 

Our guide was happy to point out where many scenes had been filmed and how. Paul was a film teacher who chose to give these tours on the side, so he was very knowledgeable and great at taking photographs.

None of the houses had insides, that was all filmed in studios, but there was one hobbit hole we were allowed to enter.

The first landmark we reached was Bag End, the famous house of Bilbo Baggins. The story of The Hobbit starts with a young Bilbo sitting at home, perfectly content with living out his years in Hobbiton. But when adventure calls he can't help but take the opportunity to see the world, after a little hesitation. I looked down the same road the Bilbo walked when he started his long adventure that would change his life, and I couldn't help but feel a kinship with Bilbo, now that my own wild journey is nearing its end.

The tour continues to the famous Hobbiton tavern, The Green Dragon. I got my free ginger beer and enjoyed the details of the place.

The town felt so much like a home. Obviously not my own home, but it felt like a home. It was warm, quiet, and comfortable. Everything you want in a home. I felt a twinge of homesickness. But unfortunately they wouldn't let me move into one of the hobbit homes.

But in all seriousness, my journey is finally winding down. I have but a few days left before I fly back to the US. I am going to miss my adventures around the world, but a big part of me will be happy to be home. It's been too long since I've see a familiar face and slept in my own bed. Too long since I've talked to my friends and sat on the couch to watch TV with my parents. This has been an unforgettable journey, and if I can help it, it won't be my last, but I will be looking forward to getting home.

I'm feeling a lot of emotions today so I will take this moment to thank everyone who has been keeping up with this blog. You are a big part of what kept me going and kept me writing every day. So thank you for reading and here's to tomorrow.