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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
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PlayStation Portable (PSP)
From gamesradar.msn.co.uk Electronic Arts’ fantasy series takes a tactical path to handheld. The quest, the trilogy and the marketing hype may finally be over but JRR just keeps on Tolkien with the announcement of PSP title Lord of the Rings Tactics. We’ve managed to get our hands on the Sony-only handheld game already and found that with its legions of battles it felt much like Square’s Final Fantasy Tactics, but with a WiFi multiplayer element. It also offers you the chance to play on the side of good, with the friendly Fellowship, or to edge towards the dark side and take command of Sauron’s orc and troll troops. And just to even things up, EA has added a brand new ending to allow the forces of evil to finally triumph over the puny humans. Lord of the Rings Tactics will appear on PSP towards the end of the year. [More] [Get the PSP]
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Andy Serkis (“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, upcoming King Kong) and Stephen Fry have joined the cast of Stormbreaker, says The Hollywood Reporter. Directed by Geoffrey Sax from a screenplay by Anthony Horowitz and based on the first of Horowitz’s series of novels about a reluctant teenage spy, the cast also includes Sarah Bolger, Damian Lewis, Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy, Sophie Okonedo, Missi Pyle, Alicia Silverstone and Ashley Walters. [More]
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Ringer Celebriel just returned from an LOTR locations tour in New Zealand, this is her Day Eight report: 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.) [More]
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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.
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Jennifer writes: I just wanted to say “thank you” for all your hard work & give you an update on VeggieTales Lord of the Beans. More info regarding the adaptation is here. There are also two trailers online here. I must say that as both a VeggieTales & LOTR fan, I am looking forward to the tale of Toto Baggypants, Uncle Billboy and the fellowship of Randalf, Ear-a-Corn, Leg-O-Lamb, and Grumpy. Especially to see the army of Sforks 🙂 Oh and also the Silly Songs with Elves.
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