Middle-Earth appears to be returning to the Wakatipu if construction in a remote valley is anything to go by. A three-storey wooden set and smaller structure are being built on private land beyond Glenorchy, 66km from Queenstown.

Security staff guarding the gate are turning away tourists and telling them the road does not give access to the nearby unsignposted Paradise estate.

A large marquee, a smaller tent, an articulated truck, four shipping containers, two earth-movers and portable cabins were seen across the paddock from the unsealed road several hundred metres away. [Read More]