Welcome to Middle Earth! :) - It is a great pleasure and privilege for us to be your enthusiastic guides to the most thrilling Lord of the Rings film locations! While the main events are Hobbiton, Mordor & Rohan, we were blessed to be able to experience some of the other magic & wonder of the 100 different film locations featured in the epic trilogy as well :). By the way, the LOTR Location Guidebook is an absolute must for any fan traveling across both islands --> Off we go!
The Hobbit-inspired sights at the airport in Auckland set our hopes on fire for what was bound to be the vacation we had dreamed of for years; one that truly became ours since the moment of our engagement three years ago.
Strangely enough, our first cinematic wonder was the Narnian beach; don't get me wrong, it was incredibly beautiful and magical and all, but I had to wait for Hobbiton for DAYS after our arrival - multiple days! Thankfully, I also had C.S. Lewis' wisdom from his other great fantasy series, the Space Trilogy, telling me that the anticipation for the event was a great and necessary part of the experience of the true pleasure itself! That revelation has completely redefined my experience of every season of waiting in my life.
Strangely enough, our first cinematic wonder was the Narnian beach; don't get me wrong, it was incredibly beautiful and magical and all, but I had to wait for Hobbiton for DAYS after our arrival - multiple days! Thankfully, I also had C.S. Lewis' wisdom from his other great fantasy series, the Space Trilogy, telling me that the anticipation for the event was a great and necessary part of the experience of the true pleasure itself! That revelation has completely redefined my experience of every season of waiting in my life.
I could barely sleep at all the night before our long-awaited trip to The Shire. This was, above all else, THE REASON we had traveled all this way to New Zealand :). There are very few if any times I have so greatly desired to have a beautiful, sunny day. To see Hobbiton in all of its shining cinema glory - bright, sparkling green grass that illuminates the rolling hillsides under a clear blue sky: that was my dream. And although we had enjoyed amazingly beautiful weather the past few days, I awoke on the morning of our departure to discover a blanket of clouds, with precious few gaps between them, very few and far between! Yet I held out hope, prayed, and was blessed upon our arrival to Matamata to see that this was the day that the Lord had made - the day of my dreams - and let me tell you, I rejoiced and was very glad :)
WOW. This set, torn down after LOTR and later rebuilt with painstaking attention to detail as a permanent tourist attraction for The Hobbit, truly surpassed even our highest, wildest expectations. To be able to wander about the flower beds and gardens, standing in the field beneath The Party Tree...walking through the narrow pass Gandalf enters into The Shire, and crossing the stone bridge to head to The Green Dragon...ah, it was an amazing, fantastic experience, that was better than we had even dared to hope or imagine. And what really took our breath away was the sheer number of hobbit holes that had been built!
They were all so different, so interestingly unique! We had a wonderful time exploring and learning about the little details of each of them, whether it was the little stacks of wood & tools in the yard or the variety in the doors and windows :) - each one had a door that would open and close, and each had candles in the window along with a chimney to spout real smoke in the evening --> Peter Jackson did everything he could to ensure that Hobbiton really felt as though hobbits were living their lives there :). And of course, visiting Bag End was a special treat. With a view like that, I understand why Bilbo would find it so very hard to leave the comforts of home!
The road goes ever on and on...and if you don't keep your feet, it may take you by Sam Gamgee's house, past the Party Tree and across the bridge to the Green Dragon for a glass of the only brew for the brave and true ;). It was so fun to watch The Fellowship of the Ring and The Hobbit again after we had visited Hobbiton! We were completely transported into Tolkien's world from here throughout the rest of our journey. And yes, by the way, we really enjoyed The Hobbit, despite what all the critics may have you believe. The scene with Gollum in the cave is possibly Gollum's finest hour - I loved it!! :)
Thankfully, our guide knew about 2nd Breakfast. The salted pork was particularly good ;). We loved the North Island, but our journey through Middle Earth was delayed - until our first glimpse of Mt. Doom as we entered Tongariro National Park.
Two of us jumped up and rushed to the front of the bus as soon as the mountain of fire was in sight. Our driver/guide was kind enough to stop and let us take pictures, after which we discovered that we would actually be passing through Ithilien on the way to Mordor - just like in the movies! We were going to get to see the Forbidden Pool! In Maori, it's known as Tawhai Falls, and it's definitely nice and cool ;).
Our driver not only confirmed that we would be stopping by to see the Forbidden Pool, but we would also be able to jump off of the top of the falls INTO the Forbidden Pool! Could this day get any better? The answer was yes. Our driver didn't really know much about Lord of the Rings (he said he couldn't sit still for that long or some lame excuse like that ;), SO he asked me to get on the mic at the front of the bus and introduce the background behind this key scene in the films!! My first time as a LOTR tour guide, introducing a place I had been many times and yet also never before ;) - I loved it!
DId I jump off 6 times spread across two separate visits to the falls? Who wouldn't? ;). In between these two glorious visits to the Forbidden Pool, we went into the heart of Mordor, to the cracks of Doom!
But remember, one does not simply walk into Mordor...
But remember, one does not simply walk into Mordor...
So we left everything that is green and good in this world behind us and entered into a land of barren black lava rock as far as the eye could see - from recent eruptions at the end of the War of the Ring, of course ;). It was a very different kind of natural beauty than any other we would experience in New Zealand. Now bear in mind that I am only sharing with you a painfully selected few of the photos of our journey - Emily was convinced that I was taking too many pictures of Mt. Doom, but I assured here that that was simply impossible ;).
The path was treacherous and steep - and of course Gollum was sneaking round, ready to ambush us at every turn!
But would you really have Mordor any other way? 1 step forward, 2 steps back through loose rock and shale. With the LOTR soundtrack playing through portable speakers, we trekked to the door of the mountain (everyone greeted us with cheers & enthusiasm, by the way, once they figured out that we were playing the appropriate theme music for the mountain - that was fun! We were home among like minded travelers...:). Once we found the door's blasted remains, it provieded quite a nice view of the Red Crater as well :).
We loved Mt. Doom!
Next stop: Wellington - the Middle of Middle Earth! :) First thing to do was to explore the famous theater which held the Australasian premieres of the first two LOTR moves as well as the World Premieres of The Return of the King & The Hobbit. We actually stayed in a nice suite at the YHA here that had our own t.v. and dvd player, so we were able to kick back and watch the Fellowship that evening. very exciting to have just been to Hobbiton and then see it again in film! We had a whole new appreciation for all those precious scenes in the Shire now that we had seen it with our own eyes :).
Our next goal was to make it to the Weta Cave, which housed a number of authentic LOTR maps, memorabilia & miniatures (i.e. Legolas' weapons, Bilbo's burglar contract), and also featured a film that described how they brought Gollum to life and worked on other special effects not only for LOTR but also for films like Prometheus and King Kong - very cool!! It's really amazing when you see where they came from, because The Lord of the Rings was really really AWESOME, not only in its own right but especially compared with their previous work - haha, talk about taking it to the next level! ;). By the way, I have a new appreciation for how huge and scary Lurtz is!
Crossing over to the South Island promised us kayaking, warm sunny beaches, and beautiful turquoise waters. But more importantly, Nelson was the origin of the One Ring.
Not only did I get to try on one of the 40 original gold rings that Frodo (and others) wore for the films, but I also got to check out a MASSIVE steel, gold-plated ring that was created for the scene in the Fellowship at the Council of Elrond. You know, where the camera zooms in on the ring and you can see everyone arguing over what they should do with it, who's going to destroy it, etc. They're both in the picture on the right :). |
While there were lots of activities to thrill us on the North Island, the South Island is the more popular attraction for tourists, probably because you get more of those incredibly grand, majestic views that you imagine when you think of LOTR. And we got to see & experience many sights along the way. Some we planned for and anticipated, and others were wonderful last-minute surprises! :)
Top Left: The Misty Mountains, featured in Two Towers Top Right: Just around the riverbend from where we went bungy jumping you'll find the film location for The Pillars of the Kings: my kin ;). Bottom Left: The Gladden Fields, where Isildur is ambushed by orcs and the ring betrays him, to his death - except we saw it in spring, which is slightly less ominous than winter |
Bottom Right: The Ford of Bruinen - "If you want him, come and claim him!"
And then, the day of my other other greatest dream in Middle Earth was upon us: to visit Rohan, home of the horse lords.
As you can see, this story has a happy ending. And the day began such as could only be hoped for in dreams: a perfect, bright blue cloudless day. BUT, as we rounded a bend in the road on our way out of Lake Tekapo, we were startled by clouds that blanketed the horizon as far as the the eye could see. Dark clouds, menacing, threatening to ruin our last great adventure! And within a few minutes, rain - not a light drizzle, but a reckless downpour! Between that and a driving wind, we could hardly see out of the bus for a few feet. How could we possibly enjoy the breathtaking vistas that Rohan was so famous for? But even as we transferred onto the tour bus after waiting in a cafe for 30 minutes - in vain, it seemed - for the rain to let up, I held onto hope. God could change the weather - he could provide for us. I had seen him do it in Hobbiton and again in Tongariro, where a big storm closed the pass for 3 days following our time there. Not that He was obligated to do anything at all. And judging by our present history, he had done much more than enough for us! He didn't owe us anything - doesn't now, and never has! But God is able - so we asked :). And after we had driven for some time and just began to enter the massive valley, we received! [You'll probably want to click on all of these for a closer look - I do! ;)]
If you look down below, you'll see where the natural background where they digitally inserted Helm's Deep :).
On top of being in a simply incredibly beautiful place, our guides also provided still frames from the movies, so that we could do a side by side comparison and match up the movie with real life - so fun! They also gave us some props to play with :) - there was the flag of Rohan for one, and both Aragorn's ranger sword as well as Anduril. As they described and we experienced, that place was a giant wind tunnel, so it was very easy for us to believe that the flag would be torn off of its staff and float down outside the city walls. Very symbolic too, of course :).
Personally, I preferred Aragorn's ranger sword :). Well, it seems that at last our journey has come to an end. I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are an evil ;). We hope you have enjoyed your stay in Middle Earth, and if you have any questions about our journey, we would LOVE to talk about them with you!
Until our next meeting...