Start: Te Anau Finish: Queenstown Mileage: 232 KM / 144 miles Film Sites Visited: Ithilien, Amon Hen, the Ford of Brunien
This morning we drove from Te Anau back to Arrowtown, an old gold mining town well worth a visit. We visited a site on the river, where the Ringwraiths on horseback gathering at the Ford of Brunien (the Arrow River) were filmed You can recognize it from the shoreline and the river’s pathway. Our visit was in the morning, after an overnight frost. All the trees were covered with ice, making the setting look like a vision from the witch’s kingdom in The Chronicles of Narnia (see gallery).
In Arrowtown, we had lunch at Saffron, a lovely restaurant visited by Elijah Wood. (http://www.saffronrestaurant.co.nz/) By lunchtime it was warm enough to east outside. Near the restaurant is a small theater, Dorothy Brown’s Cinema, featuring a wine and cheese bar, a fireplace, a bookstore, and a wonderful collectibles shop inside, well stocked with Lord of the Rings merchandise. Read a feature on this wonderful little cinema from Air New Zealand’s Panorama magazine at: http://www.dorothybrowns.com/dorothywho.php. An amazing place in a town with less than 2000 people. Sam Neill, one of the pioneers of the New Zealand film industry as actor, director, and screenwriter, lives outside Arrowtown.
Arrowtown is definitely a place to linger (which sadly, we couldn’t do). The town developed almost overnight in the 1862 gold rush. A few years later, many Chinese people also came to mine gold. Today, the old main street has been restored, with lovely old buildings (post office, jail, miners’ cottages, Chinese settlement), a museum, cafes, and very much an old mining town feel. Read more at: atoz-nz.com or arrowtown.org.nz/.
After lunch we drove to Queenstown, about 25 minutes away, to visit the locations of Amon Hen and Ithilien. Amon Hen, the Site of Seeing, where Frodo and Aragorn spoke and where Aragorn battled the orcs at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring, is in the neighborhood of Closeburn, just outside Queenstown.
We walked up Geary Lane from the Queenstown Road to reach the site. Amon Hen was one of the first big battle scenes filmed, late in 1999. It was very hot then, being summer in New Zealand, and the orcs and uruk-hai in their heavy costumes were weary after so many battle takes. You can easily identify the rock formation where the Amon Hen set stood, the mountains behind it, and the larch tree to the left of the set. Look also for the trees on the hill behind where the orcs entered, from the right, to engage Aragorn in combat after he waves Frodo to run away.
Interestingly, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh now own the land where the Amon Hen battle was filmed. It seems appropriate in some way that the Site of Seeing should be owned by the people who have created these astounding films, and enabled Tolkien fans around the world to “see” the world of the books.
From Amon Hen, we proceeded a little further out of Queenstown to the Twelve Mile Delta area, where a number of scenes representing Ithilien were filmed. Most easily recognized is the small plain where Faramir and his rangers battled the Haradrim. Many extras played Ithilien rangers one day and Haradrim the next! Many prop arrows made by Weta Workshop were collected from these fields – you can see some in the Nomad Safaris shop in Queenstown! Also in this area are the ledge where Sam, Frodo, and Gollum looked down on the oliphants, and where Sam and Gollum argued about recipes for coneys.
We passed the Coronet Peak Lodge: The Cirith Ungol scene where Frodo says, “Go home, Sam.” was filmed on its squash courts. The scene was actually completed with Sean Astin filmed a year later, but the hotel allowed the set to remain on the squash court. We also drove by the elegant Blanket Bay Lodge where Sir Ian McKellen stayed. No, we didn’t stay there, as rooms start at $NZ 1290.00, plus tax, but you can live vicariously at www.blanketbay.com.
On a stroll through the small downtown, we passed Wine Deli.com, where Viggo Mortensen bought wine for himself and chocolate for the hobbits.Cast and crew spent a lot of time in Queenstown, as filming spread over 14 months. The town was badly flooded in November 1999, just after filming began. Apparently, you could row a boat through downtown. Cast and crew helped out with both time and money during this difficult time.
Tomorrow: Queenstown excursions with Nomad Safaris and a visit to Deer Park Heights
wyvernwell writes: The complete Lord of the Rings trilogy will be shown at a charity screening taking place in San Francisco on August 18 from 11AM to midnight.
The screening will be held at the Presidio Theater, 2340 Chestnut Street in San Francisco, in the beautiful Marina District of the city.
This is a benefit for the Cure Autism Now Foundation. All proceeds will go directly to this foundation to help autistic kids and their parents by providing grants for research and support programs.
Between screenings of the features, there will be activities including raffles, door prizes, a costume contest, and intermission programming. It’s rumored that John Rhys-Davies and potentially other celebs will be sending in their taped “hellos” for the event. Longtime Ringer Leah Jakusovszky’s short award-winning fanfilm titled “Fellowship of the Bags” will be shown. Trailers for the long-awaited “Fellowship of the Beans” will also be screened! Prizes for the raffle and costume contest have been donated by WETA workshop and private collectors. We’ve just heard that Alan Lee (yes, THE Alan Lee) will be finishing up an exclusive T-shirt for this event soon.
Thursday, August 18 is a work day — but the trilogy and all the events will last until midnight, with plenty happening after 6 p.m. You are welcome to join us at any time during the event. This is going to be a day of fun for every SF Bay Area LOTR fan. Dust off those costumes and beat the heat in cool, foggy San Francisco – for a worthy cause.
To purchase tickets, and for more details on the event, visit sftrilogy.org
Start: Wanaka Finish: Te Anau Mileage: 302 KM / 187 miles
Sites: Two areas in the Mavora Lakes region, including the edge of Fangorn Forest and Nen Hithoel/Parth Galen, where the Fellowship was broken, and the Redcliff Café in Te Anau
Leaving Wanaka, we followed the road over the Crown Range for a view of Arrowtown and the Remarkables. The view from the Crown Range looking down on Arrowtown and the valley was spectacular, an amazing mixture of fog, light, snow and muted colors early on a New Zealand winter morning.
We continued south past Arrowtown, skirting the Remarkables Range, then turning west to pass through Mossburn, the southernmost point of our journey at 45.41 degrees south. A few miles past Mossburn we headed north on a gravel road for about 18 miles to come to South Mavora Lake.
Several important scenes from The Two Towers were filmed here in a very small area of grassy, rolling plain, bordered by thick forest and surrounded by mountains. On the golden plain near the edge of the forest Eomer and the Rohirrim burned the dead orcs. Aragorn, Logolas, and Gimli arrived the next day, and at first feared that Merry and Pippin were dead. Viggo Mortensen broke two toes kicking an orc helmet , then fell to his knees screaming in grief and pain. That’s the take Peter Jackson used in the film.
Aragon then discovers signs that the hobbits are not dead but have escaped into Fangorn Forest. The scene showing the edge of the forest and Gimli wondering “what madness drove them in there?” was filmed right here. There is also a photo in today’s gallery taken inside the forest.
The last important scene filmed here was Gandalf summoning Shadowfax as Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli watched. The magnificent Andalusian playing Shadowfax approached gracefully through the distant fields and stopped directly on his mark in front of Ian McKellan. Surely one of the few scenes in the Lord of the Rings completed in one take!
We returned to our bus and proceeded a short way to the larger North Mavora Lake, a camping area popular for hiking, boating, and fishing. This lakeside area and the adjacent forest represented Nen Hithoel and Parth Galen, where many scenes at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring were filmed.
A lot of action took place in the forest. We saw where the orcs ran down the slope and others entered from the left (foot stepping on log) to start the battle with Boromir, the hollow under the tree stump where Merry and Pippin first hid from the orcs and then called to Frodo, and the tree where Frodo hid from the fellowship, having decided to go on to Mordor alone (see gallery)
On the shoreline are the sites where the fellowship camped when they landed at Parth Galen, and where Frodo and Sam entered the River Anduin to sail away from the fellowship, across the river and towards Mordor. This is also the location where Sean Astin badly cut his foot walking out toward Frodo’s elven boat. (see gallery)
The lake water here is brilliantly blue and fairly still, the shoreline a fine gray gravel. The mountains rise steeply from the far side of the lake. We had our picnic lunch by the shore, not far from where the fellowship made camp on its last day together. Today the setting has none of the atmosphere of menace and uncertainty it held on the last day of The Fellowship of the Ring.
From Mavora Lakes, we headed south and then west to Te Anau. We had dinner at the Redcliff Café, in the small dining room often used by The Lord of the Rings cast and crew while staying in Te Anau. Megan, manager of the Redcliff Café, has some great stories from her work as a runner during filming in Te Anau. One night she had to deliver a script to Orlando Bloom’s room – she heard the shower running and sure enough, Orlando came to the door wrapped in a towel to get his script revisions.
Many cast members were regulars at the café. Sean Astin came in using a walking stick after he cut his foot at the Mavora Lakes. Megan cooked for Christine Astin’s birthday. The Café was a favorite location of Sean Bean, who stayed ‘til 5AM one night and missed his flight back to the United Kingdom. On another occasion, John Rhys-Davies recited a Shakespearean sonnet on poetry night, and at the time no one recognized him. Viggo Mortensen came in to get spices for a curry meal he cooked one night for the scale doubles. Megan’s Lord of The Rings display in the café has a t-short signed by Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, and Billy Boyd, and a thank you note from Sean Bean. Questions or feedback on the series? Email me!
Tomorrow: Ithilien, Amon Hen, and the Ford of Bruinen
Start: Clyde Finish: Wanaka Mileage:131 K / 81 miles Sites: Rohan (Poolburn)
Special Guest: Ian Brodie, author of The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook
Poolburn
After a hearty homemade breakfast at Oliver’s we headed out to our major site for the day, Bonspiel Station at Poolburn in the Ida Valley of Central Otago, where a number of Rohan sites for The Two Towers were filmed, passing by the gold mining town of Ophir on our way. Bonspiel Station is owned by Sue Falconer and her family (her husband Keith sadly passed away last year). The site was found by helicopter location scouts. (The term “bonspiel,” by the way, means “good game” or “good play” as used by the Scots, and the term is also for a curling tournament.)
Poolburn is Peter Jackson’s favorite accessible location; his other favorite, Norwest Lakes near Te Anau, is reachable only by helicopter. In Ian Brodie’s location guide Peter notes that Poolburn had the epic scale needed for the plains of Rohan: “It also had a sense of scale. Whenever you can put a camera down, and literally see 50 km in one direction, and have no power poles, no houses, no roads, it’s just expanse, it suddenly gives the film that kind of epic…quality of tiny figures in this big landscape.” (Extended Edition, page 16, with picture)
Sue Falconer was our guide, joining us in our bus as far as we could go before getting out and trekking, just like the Fellowship members and the orcs. She explained that filming at Poolburn started in early 2000. Crew came from Queenstown and Wanaka to build sets, disguise existing buildings with false fronts and thatch, and temporarily remove fences. Sue’s family did not work as extras but a number of locals were hired to be people of Rohan. Everyone in the area benefited from the film production, not just the extras but the many merchants who benefited from the money spent in the towns by the production company.
Walking through Poolburn, one of the first sites we visited was the Rohan village on the lake, where the orc attack took place and from which the refugees fled. The terrain and lake are very recognizable, and we could see the existing buildings that had been given false fronts and covered with thatch. The Rohan refugees fled through two burning huts in the foreground of the scenes, toward the camera. The huts were constructed and then burned on location. We could see many burned timbers, nails, and the foundations of the two huts still there, and several of us took tiny bits of charcoal as souvenirs – a small thing but something real from the production. Sue even helped us find charcoal and nails.
We also saw visited several sites that appear in the pursuit of the orcs by Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli in their attempt to rescue Merry and Pippin – all easily recognized. We saw Aragorn’s rock, where he listens for the orc troops’ movement, and where he found the Lothlorien brooch Merry dropped as a signal and says, “Not lightly do the leaves of Lorien fall.” From here we walked to the hollow where Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli first hid, then came out to meet Eomer and the Rohirrim, and where the Rohirrim surrounded them. (see re-enactment photo where our Gimli challenges Eomer, surrounded by Rohirrim.)
Next we visited the Eastemnet Gullies where the orcs ran carrying Merry and Pippin, and re-enacted the scene in which one orc says, “What do you smell?” and the other answers, “Manflesh.” Seeing all these locations within a half-hour’s walk really made us feel like we were in an historical Rohan where these events had actually taken place.
Like many ranches, Bonspiel Station has diversified its businesses beyond raising sheep and cattle. The Falconers also raise pine trees commercially and have on the property an old gold miner’s tavern and cabins which can be rented.
A Visit with Ian Brodie
Heading back from Poolburn we had lunch in Alexandria before proceeding to Wanaka to meet Ian Brodie. We met Ian at the Wanaka Airport, home to the New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum, of which he is Director. Ian Brodie’s book, The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook, has sold more than 275,000 copies and is one of the top 5 best selling books in New Zealand. Ian has written many books on aviation and explained to us that none had sold anywhere the number of copies as the location guide.
Ian talked to us about the research and writing of the book. He had met Peter Jackson, also a historic aviation enthusiast, at airshows throughout New Zealand. He spoke to the New Zealand Tourist Board, who were eager for someone to do a book on the Lord of the Rings locations, recognizing that increasing numbers of visitors from around the world would be inspired to visit New Zealand and would be interested in visiting the film locations.
Working January to June 2003 Ian identified 150 locations by word of mouth. Later, working with producer Barrie Osborne he got access to the call sheets to locate even more. Many locations are not in the book, because the owners didn’t feel comfortable having their property included. Locations on private property can’t be mentioned without specific permission. Ian used photos from the production and his own visits to all the locations to illustrate the book. He said he found it interesting that the book is shelved in different sections in different stores. He’s found it in travel, Tolkien studies, and film sections.
Ian explained that he was a fan long before the films were made. He first read the books in 1973 and even has t-shirts from the 1970s. His favorite location is Glenorchy, where the Wizard’s Vale was filmed, and said he was a regular visitor at www.theonering.net. He still keeps in touch with people from the production, noting that Barrie Osborne visited Wanaka in December. Following the success of the book, he’s enjoyed lecturing about Tolkien and the films on cruise ships and at fan conferences including RingCon in Berlin. He is currently working on “Cameras in Narnia” which will cover “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.”
You can get an autographed copy of Ian’s book if you order through http://www.aotearoa.co.nz/lotr.htm
After leaving Ian, we had a chance to practice our archery skills at Have-A-Shot in Wanaka, which was great fun and gave us a renewed appreciation of Orlando Bloom’s archery skills.
Tomorrow: the Mavora Lakes region, including the edge of Fangorn Forest and the breaking of the fellowship, and the Redcliff Café.
Start: Mt. Cook Finish: Clyde Mileage: 269 K / 167 miles Sites Visited: The Pellenor Fields, The Great Chase
Twizel -The Pelennor Fields
Today’s principal location was the Ben-Ohau Station outside Twizel, where the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in The Return of the King was filmed. At the ranch we met owner Simon Cameron, his daughter Sarah, and her friend.
Twizel is still in Mackenzie Country, where many people from Scotland settled to establish sheep ranches. Simon’s ancestors came around 1860, and they have been raising sheep on Ben Ohau Station since 1897. After World War I, many soldiers settled in the area and the large stations were split up. The original property was 85,000 acres, and long precedes the development of the town of Twizel, which was established for people working on hydroelectric projects in the area in the 1960s. Currently the Camerons have over 14,000 acres where they raise very high quality merino sheep, known for their fine wool used for clothing. They have about 5000 merinos, who, to maintain their fine quality wool, receive a uniform diet and wear jackets over their fleece.
Simon explained that he had set up a website, primarily to promote their award winning super fine and ultrafine merino wool. The site also mentioned the beauty of the land as a film location, and it was from the website that the location scouts found the ranch.
The site negotiation process took over two years. An access road was put in so the support area with its many tents, trailers, and vehicles could be set up. The road was built record time – just 1 ½ days for the three miles – and remains on the site.
Simon said he always dreamed of marrying a film star, and he finally got his wish. The only problem was that his wife Priscilla played an orc! (See photo of Sarah holding a picture of her mother in orc battle dress.) Among other celebrities, the family met Peter Jackson, Bernard Hill, and Kirin Shah, and Orlando Bloom gave Sarah tours of the set and staging areas.
Filming at the ranch took place over three weeks in September and October, and the days were long, with a 4AM call. The stars stayed in Twizel or arrived by helicopter.
Because rabbit holes would present a serious danger to horses and riders, senior citizens from the area were employed to walk the fields and fill in any rabbit holes. When Simon’s father, who’d battled rabbits on the ranch for years, saw that, he said, “Now I’ve seen everything.”
On the biggest day of filming there were over 1000 people on the site. Many extras who played Rohan riders came to the site with their horses and vans and stayed there, so it was very like an encampment. Often there were 250 horses on the site. Horsemen came from as far as the Calgary Stampede in Canada.
Simon mentioned that Peter Jackson had wanted to do a Nazgul-view shot of the battlefield requiring a helicopter but wasn’t able to. Instead, cranes were brought from Dunedin and Queenstown and cameras mounted on them for the aerial shots.
Simon explained the complicated setup used for the battle scenes, with separate lanes for riders, and camera and crew to ensure safety, and showed us where Theoden and the Riders of Rohan entered, swept down from a rise of hills, and raced into the legions of orcs and other enemies. He described how the ground shook from the thunder of the horses’ hooves.
The land where the battle took place consists of rolling, open golden plains, with a few small hills, a perfect setting for Theoden’s charge. Framing it from behind are the snowcapped peaks of the Ohau Range, playing the Ered Nimrais, the White Mountains between Rohan and Gondor. You can just see them a bit through the fog in the pictures.
Sarah continues to find souvenirs from the production on the ranch. They include numbered bridle tags used to identify the horses and also bits of fiberglass armor torn off by the extras because it made sitting the horses uncomfortable.
Two other scenes were filmed here: the scene of Gandalf riding out to repel the Nazgul from Faramir and his rangers, and the scene of Gandalf and Pippin crossing a stream on their way to Minas Tirith (this one is in the photo gallery.)
You can learn more about the Camerons and Ben Ohau Station at http://benohau.co.nz/index.html – the website that led the location scouts to them!
After visiting Ben Ohau, we continued through Omarama, where we stopped for lunch, and on through the Lindes Pass toward Otago and the gold fields to reach Clyde.
Tarras – The Great Chase (Arwen, Frodo, and Black Riders)
On the way we stopped at the area outside Tarras where the great chase in The Fellowship of the Ring was filmed. This land is not accessible to the public. However, from the road you can easily see the pine trees and the paths among them where Arwen and Frodo were chased by the Black Riders. Jane Abbott, Liv Tyler’s riding double, worked here for about three weeks, and Liv was on set for five days.
The OtagoValley growing region is a wine known for its Pinor Noir, which does well in the area’s sandy, stony soil, dry climate, and hot weather. Our guides told us that Viggo Mortensen’s favorite was from the Mt. Difficulty vineyards in Bannockburn.
We stayed at Oliver’s in Clyde, an old gold mining town, where Billy Boyd had also stayed. At dinner we were entertained by a trio of local musicians, the Middle Earth Minstrels, playing music from Lord of the Rings. Our guide Anwen also morphed into Arwen, complete with wig and red and black dress! You can learn more about historic Oliver’s and see the property at http://www.olivers.co.nz/.
Tomorrow: Rohan (Poolburn locations) and Location Guide author Ian Brodie
Start: Christchurch Finish: Mt Cook Mileage: 480K / 299 miles Site Visited: Edoras
Edoras
As we left Christchurch for Potts Station and Edoras, our guide Anwen noted that we’d passed our last stoplight for the rest of the trip – six days. The South Island of New Zealand is rough golden country, much different from the rich green landscapes of the North Island. We drove west across Canterbury Plain, an agricultural area with open fields west of Christchurch.
Our guide Anwen and her father Derek both worked as Rohan extras at Edoras, so during the ride they told us stories about life on set. Anwen worked at Edoras in late September 2000 for two days, as a Rohan villager and as a refugee. Typical of Peter Jackson’s attention to detail, the filmmakers asked the extras if they had other family members present so they could actually be grouped as Rohan families.
Anwen is the Rohan villager stirring soup when Eomer enters with the wounded Prince Theodred. She’s also in the scene where Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf head toward the stable, after Hama announces the removal to Helm’s Deep. Of her memories of the principals, she says Orlando was very energetic and enthusiastic, Viggo was in character nearly the whole time, and Ian McKellen would ask her how the soup was coming.
Her father Derek Carver joined us for the Edoras visit in his Gandalf costume. Derek appears in several scenes, as the last villager to kneel when the rejuvenated King Theoden is presented, and among refugees straggling into Edoras. Derek remembers having to wear a cape when leaving the extras’ tent to avoid being seen by spies, and sitting on the steps of the Golden Hall discussing Tolkien’s languages with Ian McKellen.
Our bus had a CD/DVD player, so we prepared by watching the scenes from The Two Towers, and then listening to the Edoras/Rohan theme music as the site first came into view. All this just helped set the stage emotionally. After leaving the main road, we traveled down a long gravel road, stopping at a ski lodge near Mt. Potts to change clothes and get into our stream-crossing and hill-climbing gear. The lodge was closed, but I think the key was under the mat. You can still do that in New Zealand.
Mt. Sunday (Edoras) is a glacial moraine formed some 20,000 years ago. It is located at Mount Potts/Erewhon Station (Nowhere spelled backwards – you may have read the novel by Samuel Butler), a huge, high country merino sheep farm that goes back to the mid-19th century. The Rangitata River divides it from its neighbor Mesopotamia Station, so named because it lies between two rivers. Everyone seems to quote Samuel Butler, so I will as well: “Never shall I forget the utter loneliness of the prospect…the vastness of mountain and plain, of river and sky.”
“Rugged” does not do justice to this landscape – it’s barren, windblown, big sky country with wide, flat, golden plains between stark hills and old, braided rivers, surrounded by the high Southern Alps that could easily be the Ered Nimrais, the White Mountains. It feels utterly isolated, and absolutely like Rohan.
To reach Edoras itself, we had to cross three streams. They were cold and rather fast running, but not too high. Our fellowship made it across safely by going in teams and linking arms. Then we had to climb to the site of the Golden Hall. Believe me, it’s the only way to do it. We approached the same way Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli did, though without horses, and the climb gives you both a sense of accomplishment and a real feel for the geography of the town and the Golden Hall.
We spent nearly an hour at the top, eating our picnic lunch, walking the sites of the stables, the stairs, and the Golden Hall, and photographing the surrounding Southern Alps and the open plains. I sat on the ground by Meduseld and read “The King of the Golden Hall.”
Anwen and Derek explained that there were two sets, upper and lower, at Edoras, with the upper set consisting of the Golden Hall and the stairs. A beloved sheep dog belonging to the owner is buried on Mt. Sunday, and he asked that the grave not be disturbed. So the bell tower was built over the grave. Unseen in the film are the two access roads, one for each set, that were built on the back side of Mount Sunday to ferry up people and equipment. Like the stunning sets, they are no longer there.
We had arrived at Edoras in mid-morning, when there was still fog in the valley and on Edoras itself. By the time we left, much of the fog had lifted, so on our way out we were able to photograph Mt. Sunday against the sweeping background of the Southern Alps.
For many fellowship members, Edoras had been their favorite location in the films or books and was their favorite location on the tour. We stood where Eowyn had stood, where Aragorn ran up the stairs, where Gandalf rode away on Shadowfax with Pippin, where Theoden ordered the muster of the Rohirrim, and we had to push ourselves a little bit to get there so we appreciated it all the more.
From Mt. Sunday we stopped in the rural farming town of Geraldine for tea, then headed into Mackenzie Country, named for Scotsman James McKenzie, who pioneered sheep ranching, and sheep rustling, back in the 1850s. We passed the base of Lake Tekapo and the lovely small church of the Good Shepherd, an appropriate name in a region where sheep are so important. We continued on many miles in darkness on a road along the shores of Lake Pukaki to the foot of Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak at over 12,000 feet and where Sir Edmund Hillary trained for Everest. It’s the most remote place I’ve ever been.
If you are in the area with limited time and want to visit Edoras, there are several day tours from Christchuch and Methven that go via 4 wheel drive, and even a helicopter tour. You can find a selection at nzto.resultspage.com.
