That’s the mill

Absolutely. And to be fair, this is in comparison to other attractions I visited while in NZ. It was perfectly in line with what you would expect from somewhere in the USA. I think I saw a single gift shop during my entire time on the South Island, and the ones on the North Island seemed shockingly reasonable.

Yes, it seemed everything they sold there was overpriced. Especially compared to everywhere else we went that either didn’t have souvenirs, or if they did they were reasonably priced for what they were. Their cafe also seemed expensive, with lower quality food than other places we went.

For example, I bought a Hobbit hole figurine from Weta workshop. The exact same figurine was almost double in price at Hobbiton. I considered buying a T-shirt there, it was 40 USD, and I ultimately decided was not worth it. I bought other gift shop t shirts elsewhere for under 20 USD.

That said, the tour itself was fantastic and I absolutely loved it. They did a great job of capturing the vibe of Hobbiton and the detail they put into the holes was awesome.

This was the most tourist trap-y place I visited when I was in New Zealand, but it was still everything I had hoped for.