What's the most well known tourist attraction in New Zealand? Right, Hobbiton, so let's go there. In the middle of nowhere surrounded by burned farmland suffering from the drought-like summer a green oasis is attracting more than 300000 visitors per year.

Let's look at some hobbit holes first:

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And of course the most famous hobbit hole bag end. Unfortunately there was still no admittance and I couldn't prove that I was responsible for setting up the network for the party night.

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The first oak tree overlooking Bag End was cut down and brought in from near Matamata. Each branch was numbered and chopped, then transported and bolted together on top of Bag End (weighing 26 tonne). Over 200000 leaves were imported from Taiwan and attached one by one with glue.

For the Hobbit movies the tree had to be smaller as they are set 60 years earlier so they built up a new artificial tree. After it was all ready Peter Jackson looked at it and said it has the wrong color, so all leaves had to be hand-painted again to match the color in the Lord of the Rings.

From Bag End you have a good view on the party ground and the famous Green Dragon on the other side of the lake.

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Passing the watermill

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And enjoying a complimentary drink in the Green Dragon

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This is still not all, the Rotorua area has more to offer. Just North of Rotorua are the amazing Hamurana Springs with crystal clear water. 15 meters deep it is the deepest natural fresh water spring on the North Island.

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And very close by are the Kaituna rapids, loved by all water sport enthusiasts. I was just watching though:

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