Not to be overly dramatic but I have given up. I am finished. Throwing in the towel, calling it quits, raising my hands to the sky and surrendering. The elements and complicated plots twists have combined forces to conquer me.
Yes, officially, I have accepted the inevitable and I am now facing the cold hard truth: I am a travel blogger.
I am here in New Zealand, Matamata as matter of fact and the sun is up and birds are singing and the weather is beautiful. I am in a lovely little accommodation called the Broadway Motel in a town that fancies itself as Hobbiton. I have been in New Zealand just shy of a week and I have written a fair bit about Queenstown and some of the amazing places and people there. But since my stay there I have been traveling — a lot. Continue reading “MrCere officially ‘gives up’ in NZ / ME”
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GLENORCHY, NEW ZEALAND — Without question, Queenstown is a wonder. It is so beautiful that it is on the verge of being absurd. It is grand with lakes, mountains and forests and deserves every accolade it receives.
But it isn’t Paradise — or Glenorchy for that matter.
If Lake Wakatipu is shaped like a Harry Potter scar, Queenstown sits at the horizontal point just before the final descending line. If you climb in your car and drive across that horizontal bar and up to the top point of the lighting bolt, you will arrive at Glenorchy. (After a stunning drive on some roads that demand real courage.) Continue reading “A Tolkien reader’s Paradise”
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From Otago Daily Times: Up to 250 members of The Hobbit film crew were
working on Treble Cone, in the Matukituki Valley, yesterday but those in charge were keeping mum about who was in town and what part of J.R.R. Tolkein’s popular story was being filmed.
The second production unit of Peter Jackson’s company, 3Foot7 Ltd, began setting up camp in a Cattle Flat Station paddock at the base of the Treble Cone ski area access road on Monday.
The film crew began arriving on Tuesday for a single day’s filming, but visitors were kept out by security guards.
Unit manager Belinda Lee Hope apologised for having to decline to give any details about the unit’s activities, but said she could understand if locals were excited about the film crew being in the area and that Wanaka locations could appear in the film. more..
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Beware, thar be Spoilers ahead, read at your own Peril!
Welcome back to Middle Earth! One more report from Denize Bluffs (aka Mangaotaki Rocks) before we move on to the next (and pretty awesome, I might add) location.
This day was fairly unique as far as location shooting goes. Typically you go out in the wild to get big establishing shots, which is why a whole lot of the footage I’ve seen so far involves running. With the quickly changing light, fast moving clouds, uncooperative weather getting anything but quick bits is often difficult and will make even the most adventurous director long for the controlled confines of a studio.
More. . . Continue reading “AICN Hobbit set report #5”
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Welcome, welcome to the fourth set report from the set of The Hobbit and the very first from a brand spankin’ new location! We started in Matamata (Hobbiton) and the plan was to work our way down the North Island of New Zealand, zig-zagging south until we hit Wellington again where the 450 strong main unit would board planes and ferries bound for the South Island and the bulk of location photography. Upon departing Hobbiton I made my way to a small town called Te Kuiti. This lovely little farm town is famous for being home to (Colin Meads), one of the most revered All Blacks of all time. The dude is so famous that my place was on Meads St. More..
Continue reading “AICN Set Report 4”
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With the pages falling off the calendar of time remaining in The Hobbit filming schedule, TheOneRing.net is heading to Queenstown (for starters) for more coverage.
Writer and photographer Larry D. Curtis (MrCere@TheOneRing.net) will be a one-man news production team for two weeks, starting November 30 when he touches down at the Queenstown airport. His journey will also take him to Wellington to mark the one year countdown before the world premiere of the first Hobbit film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, in 2012 along with visits to friends of TORn (such as our own founder Tehanu) and can’t-miss public sites like the Weta Cave.
Curtis (known by the handle MrCere on the site) also plans to meet with as many fans as possible while in the area, including at un-official but hopefully frequent moot events, so if interested in attending or hosting, please contact him at the email above. The always all-volunteer and not-for-profit TheOneRing.net would also appreciate anybody who has great information or tips on inexpensive places to stay (no haystack ruled out!) or eat while in New Zealand. Continue reading “TORn headed to Queenstown, NZ for ‘Hobbit’ reporting”
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