Here’s a nice story from stuff.co.nz: Sir Peter Jackson has come to the rescue of a historic Wellington church. Jackson and wife Fran Walsh have bought St Christopher’s Church in the suburb of Seatoun for $1.06 million in a move that saves the earthquake-prone church and neighbouring hall from potential demolition. The couple made their latest purchase to ensure the buildings would not be lost from the peninsula, trust chairman Richard Stubbs said. According to Stubbs, the community would have faced a huge fundraising effort were it not for Jackson and Walsh stepping in.
“They’ve rescued it. They’ve totally relieved us of that obligation, and that means we can get on and run the facilities … their involvement here is absolutely pivotal. They’ve done this for the people of the peninsula, and indeed for Wellington.”
Read the rest of the article on the stuff.co.nz website here.
Join Kili and Mike the Guide for a tour of several Lord of the Rings filming locations, including Isengard, Anduin, and Rivendell!
Book your own Middle-earth adventure with Mike the Guide, recommended by not only Kili but Ian Brodie, author of the official locations guidebook, himself! Click here to learn more.
Enjoy the photos below and remember to check out our Happy Hobbit YouTube channel for many more videos from New Zealand and the California shire! A great place to start is this playlist:
Where the hobbits tumbled down the hillside in their “shortcut t mushrooms!”
Hiding from the Nazgul… and my fellow tourists! (The tree in the film was fake)
Being Frodo resting and smoking in he and Sam’s camp.
Frodo’s view of the canopy.
Where Sam and the cookfire should be!
Buckland?
Where the Ringwraith appeared in slow-mo in FOTR.
One of the Anduin locations
By the river Anduin
Trying to make a wizard’s beard in Isengard.
We bumped into Jack Machiela, the head of the Wellington Tolkien Society!
Mike the Guide and I pose as Gandalf and Saruman. “Your love of the halfling’s leaf has dulled your mind.”
“Rip them out. All of them.” Isengard.
The two trees in the distance are where Gandalf rode when he arrived at Isengard in FOTR.
Where Brego awakens Aragorn after his “tumble over a cliff” in TTT.
If only Brego really were there!
Where Faramir’s vision of his dead brother was filmed for TTT:EE.
Elven carvings.
An Elvish welcome in Rivendell!
Because some of our Elvish is rusty…
Mike the Guide and a not-so-accurate height chart in Rivendell.
Sauron’s eyes?! Just… no.
Posing like Legolas where he did some classic photos.
It’s
undoubtedly the dream of many a Tolkien fan to set foot in Hobbiton – or, really, any of the countless other locales you will find in The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films.
Many have, in fact, traveled to the beautiful country of New Zealand to do just that. However, not all of us have had the opportunity (or means) to travel and see Middle-earth for ourselves. To illustrate just what awaits us across the globe, NewZealand.com has just the solution. Continue reading “‘Take a Flight’ through the filming locations of Middle-earth”
Sir Peter Jackson has a new award to add to his trophy cabinet! The film director has just been honoured with New Zealand’s highest accolade, having been made an Additional Member of the Order of New Zealand, for services to the country. Sir Peter is the first member of the film industry to be made part of the Order; he joins a list which includes politicians, judges, sportsmen and even the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip!
Read the full story here. Everyone at TheOneRing.net sends many congratulations to Sir Peter on this significant honour!
(Photo, by Kevin Stent, shows Sir Peter with NZ Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae, at the investiture ceremony.)
Thanks to Ringer Nienna for the heads-up on this little BBC feature about the starring role that New Zealand’s landscapes play in many of its films.
If a country could be eligible for a best actor award, New Zealand could be in the running for every gong going, with its contrasting moods showcased most recently in The Hobbit and Top Of The Lake. Is the scenery more than just a dramatic backdrop?
“Sinister… the heart of a demon” – the Guardian
“Majestic menace” – Slate
“Bleak, forbidding or just plain murderous” – Daily Mail
“Unspoiled and unruly” – Variety
These are not reviews of an actor’s performance in the BBC Two mystery Top of the Lake – well, not any of the human actors – but the part played by the landscape. “The geography is really another brooding character,” says the Australian in its review, praising its “angularities, shadows and dark moods”.
It’s not the first time New Zealand’s scenery has muscled its way into reviews and water-cooler conversations. The same happened with Peter Jackson’s Tolkien trilogies – first Lord of the Rings and now The Hobbit – in which the country’s dramatic terrain itself “plays the mythical world of Middle-earth” according to the New Zealand Tourism website.
Just like last year, Air New Zealand has a new Hobbit-crossover video clip that spruces its wares: “just another day in Middle-earth”.
Thanks to Ringer Nienna for the heads-up on this little BBC feature about the starring role that New Zealand’s landscapes play in many of its films.