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How awful? "Some French family offered my mum a lot of money to use her car for a day. They walked from town to our house (they had apparently asked their neighbors), and offered money for her car on the spot. They were upset when they were told no. They were begging her, 'Please. The tour company can't drive us today. Please let us use your car!' It was unbelievable."

Wait, they go right to the front door?

"They'll come right to your door sometimes like we're a fucking museum. There's not a lot of houses, and ours is close to the road compared to everyone else down the road to Hobbiton ... at best they want directions. At worst it's like the French family thinking they could rent a car, or others asking for a ride there. You know, 'We didn't know how long a hike it was there. Please drive us.' No! And they get mad if you don't, as if they're the worst tour guide ever instead of you know, average citizens."

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It's as if they think the random people living in their normal human homes have been planted there by the tourism board to add atmosphere. When people find out they're not there to serve them, they don't take it well. "One American couple kicked a plant off our doorstep in retaliation, and others spat when we closed the door. And a Chinese couple we refused to allow to come in to use the bathroom told our neighbors that we forcefully kicked them out. Sometimes they aren't that polite, and hop the fence to have a picture in the field."

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Myer says it wasn't just annoying at that point; it'd become dangerous. "They'll cross roads to see certain sites, so every so often you'll see someone in costume run across the road in front of moving traffic. Some stand in the middle of a street or climb trees on other people's property to get a shot of Hobbiton. Some have set up tents on the side of the road in the past because they want to be there first thing in the morning ... This was scary, but my dad was driving down around Hobbiton when a tent, with the door out to the road, zipped open with this person coming out. He tripped and fell into the road. My dad had to swerve around him at the last second. He called the police and proceeded to argue with these tourists for a while until the police came and told them to pack it up."