I'm pretty sure the original story was plenty dramatic enough not to add new ways to get from point A to point B. They could have cut a whole hour and still had a long movie that stopped where it did.
Mind you, the addition of the little council at Rivendale meant the 5 minutes with Galadriel. Nice to see her again. Even if she's not IN the book. S'ok.

Um, Radagast. I think you can probably get crazy hippie vibe without bird poo as accessory.