Lord of the Rings location tour

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Today we had a bit of a lay-in. Well I say lay-in, but we were up at 7am, as today was ‘optional activities’ day. We’d all booked these up with the guys on the Sunday drive from Christchurch to Lake Ohau.

I had chosen the two things I wanted to do, even before I’d even come out to New Zealand, the ‘Lord of the Rings 4x4 tour’ and the 12,000 ft Tandem Skydive. I was really excited about today, though when I looked outside, it was very overcast. There were eight of us doing the Lord of the Rings tour this morning, and a few others were doing theirs this afternoon, as they were either bungying or Shotover jetboating this morning.

The group this morning were, from my tour, Lisa (a schoolteacher in Sydney), Tania, Jo and her boyfriend, Rikki and his girlfriend, Tracy and me.

We had to meet in the hotel lounge at 8am. We were all ready early, and ended up waiting for ten minutes or so.

One of the tour guides came over at about 8:10am, so we all made our way outside to the 4x4’s. I ended up being with Rikki and his girlfriend, Tracy and two other people that weren’t on our tour. They were either American or Canadian.

Our first stop was about ten minutes up the road from Queenstown. We’d stopped at a good viewpoint of Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkables. However, as we were much further up the hills we could see as far as Frankton looking south. We could see the Kelvin Heights area from here. This was used in the battle scenes in ‘The Two Towers’. Looking north, we could see as far as Glenorchy.

It was a cloudy day today so we couldn’t see the summit of The Remarkables. The two guides talked about the way the Remarkables were used in the films (painted black and then stretched, making them the hills of Mordor). They talked about the lake. The Dart and Rees rivers flow into the lake, as well as many small streams and creeks. The lake is a very good fishing spot for both Rainbow and Brown Trout. Last summer there was a drought in New Zealand, during which the water level dropped by a metre or so. This affects the power supply source, as much of New Zealand’s power is created by hydro-electricity, so the less water, the less amount of power produced.

We stopped off further on along Lake Wakatipu.

Our third stop was Paradise. This was quite a long drive away. We took the Routeburn Track to this place. This track was covered with stone chippings and took us through many fields. There were no houses or people around. We passed the odd car, but that was it.

On the way to Paradise, we passed a car that had been rammed into a tree. The guide we had, had stopped our 4x4, and got out to check if there was any injured people inside. Luckily there wasn’t, so it must have happened the previous night. It was really quite a horrific smash.

On we went, with the others following us behind, until we came to this shady, dense forest. We parked up here, and waited for the others.

Once everyone was there, we all got out, and were told this was Paradise. They had filmed a lot of scenes here, especially ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’.

There was a dense canopy sheltering us from the sun today, which had burnt the earlier clouds away, with a sparse forest floor. The trees were hundreds of years old, and were beech trees. There are four types of beech tree - red, silver, black and hard beech. These particular trees were red beech. These trees are different, in that when they die, they die from the inside out. Young trees tend to struggle to grow, as the dense canopy doesn’t allow much sunlight through, which, obviously, the trees need to grow. The only time the younger trees will break through is if one of the larger, older trees fall to the ground.

Back to the ‘Lord of the Rings’ scenes. We were standing directly in front of one particularly large beech tree. This was a famous tree, as this was the original tree that spawned the character Treebeard in the second and third films. It was not really noticeable as being used in the film, but it was definitely the one that Treebeard was based from, with all its little warty shapes on the bark.

Another scene that was shot here was at the end of ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’. This was the battle of Amon Hen. Here we were told that there were caravans and camera equipment spread across the sparse forest floor, and that the film crew had to return the land to exactly the same condition they had found it in. They also mentioned about fly-by-wire cameras being used here, as these gave a smooth flowing feel, as if they were flying in the sky.

Once the guides had finished their talk, it then became quite apparent that we were in a really cut-off area. We were on the edge of the Mount Aspiring National Park, which is a protected area. It was a very beautiful area, so quiet and peaceful, and we could not believe that only a couple of years ago, this area was covered with camera equipment and actors enacting their fight scenes. Quite unbelievable!

Our next stop was along the Routeburn Track, back up the way we’d driven. This stop was for morning tea. It was at a place called Greenstone Valley. The guides up on a clearing and we all got out and had tea or coffee and cake or biscuits. The sun was out now, making it a nice little break from the driving. We only stayed here for a short while as we still had plenty of stops to go.

The guides told us about the area being cool temperate rainforest, and that when pollen was exhumed from all the flowers in the surrounding fields, most insects were attracted to it by night, especially in the glacial valleys. There seemed to be an abundance of wildlife around here, as all we could hear were birds, in particular skylarks. It reminded me a lot of farmland, as there were many sheep scattered around in the adjoining fields. The sun had by now, burnt any remaining cloud from around the mountain summits, giving us a clear view around.

After a couple of photos, we moved on to our next stop. We drove along the Rees-Dart Track, and stopped alongside the Dart River riverbank. We were at another location from Lord of the Rings. This location was where the Tower of Orthanc was situated.

In the distance, we could hear one of the Dart River jets. It was getting closer, and louder, but we couldn’t see it for quite a while. The Dart River, like most rivers, twists and turns a lot, and eventually we saw it. Beforehand, the water was calm and peaceful, but the loud groaning nice of the river-jet broke the silence. It was swerving in and out, and closer and closer to us. The river-jet driver had obviously spotted us all standing by the bank, and altered his course towards us. He was obviously going to try and spray us, so we edged further back so that he couldn’t. The boats were very noisy and very fast over the water, but he didn’t get any of us wet.

Our next stop was in Glenorchy, which was really more of a toilet stop. It seemed a very sleepy little village.

Onwards we went, coming to Twelve-Mile Delta. This was quite a drive, over rugged 4x4 tracks. We were also travelling quite fast, so each time we drove over a bump, I ended up hitting my head on the roof. It also made using the video camera a bit awkward and shaky. Twelve-Mile Delta is used by many people, especially locals, for 4x4 driving, mountain biking, canyoning and kayaking, as the terrain is very demanding. I guess it is like a recreational playground for these people. The land is also used as camping ground for anyone parking up for the night.

Again, Twelve-Mile Delta was another location used in the Lord of the Rings film, ‘The Two Towers’. This was where Frodo, Sam and Gollum observed the Ithilien camp as they were being ambushed, and also where Gollum captured the brace of conies for Frodo.

We had parked up alongside some loud and fast-flowing white water rapids. The water had filtered down from the mountains, and was again totally clear and sparkling.

Our last stop was on the way back towards Queenstown. This was at the bank of Lake Wakatipu. This was the location where, in ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’, the Fellowship actually broke up, with Frodo going off alone, and Sam wading into the water, nearly drowning.

The Remarkables were also used at the end of ‘The Two Towers’ when Frodo and Sam looked out towards Mordor and ‘The Eye’. The tour finished at 1:30pm.

I was dropped off at the hotel, as I had my skydive booked for that afternoon, and I would only need essential things. The skydive was booked up at 3pm, and I needed to be at NZONE by then. However, I also needed to cash up some traveller’s cheques as I would also need money for the heli-hike the following day. I also wanted to post some postcards. By now, the weather was perfect - nice and sunny, with a little wind.

I didn’t plan on having anything for lunch, so got my things together, and after a short while strolled back into Queenstown town centre. The hotel was quiet, and I didn’t see anyone around, so everyone else was doing an option that arvo. I got to NZONE in good time, paid the deposit and filled in the consent forms. They needed to know quite a few things about you, even your weight. Susan and Stephanie turned up about ten minutes after me. I think all three of us were really looking forward to it. I wasn’t worried at all. We sat through a video explaining and showing us what we would be doing. All this seemed to do was pump us up even more, which I suspect was the intention.

There were three others who also were waiting for the off to do their skydives as well. We all wanted to get going. After a few minutes we all left for a little minibus which was parked out in the main road. This was to take us to Queenstown’s airfield, which was located between Frankton and Kawarau Dam, about 8 km away. It was only a ten-minute drive.

We arrived at the airfield, though once we got there we knew we would have a wait, as they were running behind schedule, so Susan, Stephanie and me went over to the self-service drinks machine there.

As we waited…and waited, things took a turn for the worse. The wind was picking up, and reaching levels meaning skydives couldn’t happen. I think it was if the wind speed was 25 knots or more, then it would be unsafe. We all looked at each other with dismay.

Surely after al this build-up, they’d just have to delay take-off for a while. Well, not this time. Someone had decided there, that there would now not be anymore flights taking of at all! We couldn’t believe it. Surely, just waiting a little while, and seeing how it turns out would have been the sensible decision, but this was definitely not the case. They cancelled everyone’s skydive there and then. I was absolutely gutted. I’d built myself up for this for ages, and this was to be one of the main highlights of my holiday, and I had just had it taken away from me, just like that.

So now we had to get back to Queenstown, but there were too many people to take back in the minibus all in one hit, so we had to wait around, wasting even more time, as the driver took a full bus back to Queenstown. It was just the three of us left waiting around. We were all totally depressed that today hadn’t been as good as that we’d hoped it would be.

We finally got back to Queenstown, where they said to us, that we could have it re-arranged for tomorrow morning, but we couldn’t as we were leaving for Fox Glacier the next day, so we got our money back and left - disappointed!

I went for a walk around town and bought some more souvenirs, including this cool glass cube, which had a three-dimensional kiwi bird laser-scribed inside the glass.

I arrived back at the hotel at around 4pm.Christiano was back in our room when I got in. He’d just come back from the Nevis bungy, the highest in New Zealand at 170 metres. He was really on a ‘high’. He’d had an amazing experience by the sound of it.

This just made me even more depressed, as I hadn’t had my ‘amazing experience’ today. The 4x4 tour was good but it just involved too much time sitting in the back of the vehicle, which made the journey a little cramped and awkward. The non-event at the airfield just made my day even flatter.

He was gutted for me, but I was pleased that his bungy had gone well.

I decided to go for a walk, and found myself walking up the Ben Lomond Track, which I underestimated a little. This was a very hard slog of a walk, with very steep steps at times. It just now such a lovely day - sunny and with hardly any wind. I just knew the guys at the airfield should have waited!
Anyway, I walked for quite a way. It was a good job that I’d taken my bottle of water, as it so demanding. After an hour or so of walking I still seemed no nearer the top and as dinner was to be at 6:30pm tonight, I decided to call it a day. It was a lovely walk and throughout the walk I had the relaxing noise of a trickling stream which flowed through the middle of the walk. It was very calming.

The walk down was obviously a lot easier. Little did I realise, but the walk I’d decided to do, was up 1746m Ben Lomond, which is a six-hour return walk. No wonder, I didn’t seem to be getting any nearer to the summit. However, it had filled my afternoon up, and had also given me an appetite.

Everyone in the group met up for dinner in the usual place, and we talked about our days. Jess, Dayna and Nat were chatting about the ‘Lord of the Rings’ tour that they had done that afternoon, and we had all agreed that it was nowhere near worth the money we had paid for it.

Tonight, we were all going out for drinks, so we all spruced ourselves up after dinner. We al met in the hotel’s reception. The girls all looked nice. It was so good to be on a tour surrounded by so many lovely ladies!

We walked up to Queenstown town centre. It was a milder evening tonight. Not as cold as Monday night’s walk back from the Hard Rock Café.

We were going to Fraser’s tonight. Fraser’s was a large bar slap-bang in the middle of Queenstown. It was absolutely rammed there, obviously very popular. Strangely, we were all asked for ID before we could even get in. I’d never been asked for ID for years. Luckily I happened to have my driver’s licence in my wallet.

However, some of the girls didn’t have any ID on them, so they had to shoot back to the hotel. We got our drinks (I was on the Speight’s again), and we found an area with some spare sofas and space, which was a stroke of luck.

It was a real struggle though getting more drinks. Kim had put this ink stamp on our wrists, as this would indicate to the bar staff that we were on a Connections tour, thus got a drink discount. Not bad!

There was a group of about fifteen of us who were all together, while some of the others had either not come out, or were in the main bar area.

After an hour or so, some of us had decided that we’d need a change of scenery. Nick and Kim were settled in there, and tried to persuade us not to move on, but none of us wanted too, so another core group of us went to look for a more comfortable bar or club. We stumbled on a place called ‘Surreal’, which is on the far side of Queenstown. This seemed perfect. There were some tables empty at that time, which we could leave our things, and party on.

The drink wasn’t too pricey there, so I reverted back to my usual Jack Daniel’s and coke. Off the top of my head, I remember there being the usual suspects (Jess, Dayna, Nat and the two Sam’s), Lisa, Tania, Amanda, Kevin and myself.

The DJ was good and kept us all up, with one of us taking it in turns to look after the jackets and bags. Tonight, was also a special night. Once midnight chimed, Dayna would be 21.

We stayed here for the rest of the night, as it really was a good place and had a lively atmosphere. The funny thing was that, me being such a music fan, I didn’t recognise any of the toons being spun. Normally I would pick out a few of the old classics, so I guessed this DJ was spinning the big stuff in New Zealand at the time. It got to around 1am (most clubs stay open till 2am on weeknights), before I decided to call it a night. I knew we had another early start in the morning, and would need to catch some sleep. I walked back with Kevin and Amanda, who had thought the same as me.

I think some of the others decided to go onto some place Sam’s friend (who’d joined us in Fraser’s and had recommended Surreal). He was from England originally, but had been working in Queenstown for a while now.

I knew there would be some sore heads in the morning. I ended up turning in at 1:30am.

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Photos

Queenstown
Lake Wakatipu

Queenstown
Lake Wakatipu

Lord of the Rings location tour
Forest used in many of the film scenes, located just outside Paradise.

Lord of the Rings location tour
Forest used in many of the film scenes, located just outside Paradise.

Lord of the Rings location tour
We stopped here for tea, along the Routeburn Track.

Lord of the Rings location tour
Twelve-Mile Delta

Lord of the Rings location tour
Twelve-Mile Delta