From: Sam

Man hurt on Rings film set

A 28-year-old man was injured in an accident on the site of the Lord Of The Rings Film set in a quarry at the foot of Haywards Hill, Lower Hutt, this morning. Wellington Free Ambulance said the man, who was on a bike, fell into a stream after a road collapsed. The man was taken to Hutt Hospital with moderate ankle and shoulder injuries.

We started our adventures by climbing to Mt. Owen, in the top of the South Island. It only took about two days to get to where we could see the Owen massif peaks all around us, covered in golden tussock. Fantastic views. Nice to know that PJ and the crew got up here by helicopter in about ten minutes. Later down closer to sea level we recovered from our walk at the Kohatu Tavern. The locals said that the film crew had been helicoptering in and around those peaks for a few weeks up until three weeks before. They filmed in a cave, we were told. We’d seen plenty of caves but none that you could get to without abseiling. One girl at the pub said she’d seen Peter Jackson.

“Where?”

“Over by my Nanna’s place.”

Right. As though I was going to know.

“Where’s that?” I asked

“By the Tapawera campground.”

Later we drove on round to Murchison on the other side of Mt. Owen. At the cafe they reckoned that people further up the Matriri valley had seen big lights up around Mt. Owen as well.

I had photos of those peaks – not going to do all that

walking for nothing – but won’t be near a scanner for

weeks. Meanwhile, imagine a landscape of fantastic twisted silvery marble peaks sheltering a high rolling basin of golden tussock dotted with tiny tarns reflecting the sky. Below us, clouds churned and boiled as though held back from us by a spell.

No clues on WHAT was being filmed there, something with caves, that gives about three options, so you can make up your own minds when we finally post these photos.

Tehanu has taken human form again and has gone tramping (NZ slang for hiking) down and around the south island. This is what she has for you:

We started our adventures by climbing to Mt. Owen, in the top of the South Island. It only took about two days to get to where we could see the Owen massif peaks all around us, covered in golden tussock. Fantastic views. Nice to know that PJ and the crew got up here by helicopter in about ten minutes. [MORE]

From: Otogo Daily Times

Hobbits taking Christmas off

By Kerry Williamson

Even hobbits take a holiday over Christmas.

Filming of the $360 million Lord of the Rings movie trilogy – based on the novels by J. R. R Tolkien and directed by Wellington’s Peter Jackson – has been taking place in and around Queenstown during the past month.

However, filming will break next week for Christmas and will not continue at the Southern Lakes until the middle of next year.

Film crews spent much of this week shooting scenes near Glenorchy. Scenes have also been shot near Te Anau, Tarras and Queenstown.

Publicist Claire Raskind said filming had gone well, despite the setbacks suffered when several sets were washed away during last month’s record rainfall and flooding.

Good weather had allowed crews to catch up on time lost during the floods, she said.

More than 400 people have been employed by the Lord of the Rings producers since filming began in Wellington several months ago.

Lead actors Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Sean Bean and Viggo Mortenson have all spent time in the Southern Lakes during filming.

From: Gary C

I thought you might like to know that i found a LOTR Winamp skin at www.freethemes.com ( pick a local mirror and look in the winamp section).