When Michele Maro became captivated by “The Lord of the Rings” movies, she never imagined she would one day be walking around in the Shire, touring Hobbiton and peeking into hobbit holes. Those are all fictional places, but fans can visit the closest thing possible in New Zealand, where the trilogy was filmed and where specially designed tours will take visitors to some of the stunning locations featured in the movies. Maro, who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, spent two weeks in New Zealand in 2003 being guided around forests, national parks and farms, exploring sites that she didn’t think were real when she first saw them on the big screen. More…