New Zealand, Day 3 (Journey into Middle Earth)

This day I bid farewell to Auckland and made my way by bus to Rotorua, but not before traveling through gorgeous rolling hills and into Middle Earth -- the Hobbiton movie set.

As you may know, the relatively small area that comprises Hobbiton is in the middle of a much larger swath of land that is a working farm. 

After about 5 minutes or so, the bus parked, and we had a short jaunt to enter into Hobbiton. 

And then through the lane that was central to a few scenes in the movie, we were in to marvel at all of the Hobbit holes and the greater landscape.

The most Hobbit hole of them all -- Bag End

Apparently the original "No Admittance" sign was stolen, as were many subsequent replacements.

And across the way... The Green Dragon.

And some of the items in the gift shop next to where we got our tickets for the tour:

And a random stone carving of Gollum just outside the gift shop: