Wandering after Wargs

Early Wednesday (Jan 11) morning we left our cottage on the Otago Penninsula for a 2-day trek up to the Queenstown area, in search of a handful of Lord of the Rings filming sites and the spectacular scenery that surrounds them. It rained on and off for most of the day as we wound our way north through incredible mountain scenery, made very mysterious and awe-inspiring by the mists and drizzle.


Along the way, we stopped for a pint at The Cardrona Hotel, one of the oldest in NZ, and the inspiration for The Prancing Pony pub in The Fellowship of the Ring. See my own mysterious Ranger deep in thought (about his beer, I think!), below.

At Wanaka, we stopped for several hours to allow Frank to get his fill of vintage aircraft at the WWII Fighter Plane Museum. As he was almost the only patron, he had the chance to chat to the mechanics and really get a close-in look.

Passing through the busy tourist city of Queenstown by late afternoon, we continued in the rain, now heavy, along a 40k series of switchbacks to reach the village of Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu. In sunlight, this lake is a brilliant turquoise (like Lake Louise) due to suspended minerals in the water. At our first look, however, it was a sullen gray. We escaped the rain inside our tiny cabin at the holiday camp (two bunk beds, a lone lightbulb, and a heater!) and then spent an enjoyable hour cooking our supper in the communal kitchen, surrounded by a United Nations of young 'trampers' all trying to dry out and catch the weather forecast on the miniature TV. We also met a professor of law from the University of Auckland (and his charming wife who reminded us very much of Margaret Cunningham, Barry Moore's mother-in-law) who 'lectured' us for a half hour on the need to maintain the autonomy of the universities (NZ is moving quite strongly towards standardization of curriculum). It all sounded quite familiar, but we feigned polite interest and learned a lot! We both slept surprisingly well to the sound of the rain drumming on our roof, but woke to brilliant sunshine and a scattering of puffy white clouds--hurrah! Coffee in a tiny cafe, complete with a resident pussycat called Latte who allowed me a cuddle (to family: he looked just like our old Clove), a quick visit to a possum fur product shop (possums are an introduced menace in NZ), and we were ready to roll south again.


After a brief stop in Queenstown, enough to convince us that tourist towns are pretty much all alike, we proceeded to the REAL adventure--a trip up to the top of Deer Park Heights, an animal reserve/park about 20 minutes outside of Queenstown proper. Apart from the interest provided by the animals (red and fallow deer, goats, llamas and alpacas, highland cattle, tibetan yaks, miniature horses, and bison, almost all ranging freely) this park is the site of a major sequence in The Two Towers (LOTR alert: non-fans skip this section!).

Most of the sequence involving the retreat of the people of Rohan to Helm's Deep was filmed here, including the scene of the long train of people and wagons rounding a mountain tarn (see me on the exact spot below), Gimli's fall off his horse, Eowyn's 'stew' conversation with Aragorn (extended version only), Hama's death by Warg, Legolas' first shot at the Wargs and then his amazing leap onto his horse, the Warg battle, and Aragorn's slide over the cliff; as well, it is the site for the exit from The Paths of the Dead in the extended version of The Return of the King. It was amazing how small each film site is! We watched the Rohan sequence again after returning from the site, and the background is definitely recognizable, but looks so much bigger on screen--the magic of cinema! However, the Remarkables mountains in the background are just as majestic in real life. We spent more than two hours here, watching planes and para-sailors as well as marveling at film sites, and enjoyed it immensely (as my 100 photos attest--only hard-core fans will be subjected to these upon my return home).

This site is extra-special to me because it was LOTR producer Barrie Osborne's remark (on the DVD documentaries) that this scene required no touching up or digital changes, that it really was exactly as it looked, that was the beginning of my determination to come to this beautiful country and see this place for myself. A long road from that spark of an idea about three years ago to today--I can finally cross that item off my 'life list'!

We took a different route back south to the Otago Penninsula. A few miles down the road, we stopped at Hackett's, the original bungy-jumping site. Neither of us was tempted to 'take the plunge' (literally!) but we did enjoy watching the other intrepid tourists bouncing wildly by their feet from a suspension bridge over the Kawarau River. My interest, other than marvelling at their daring, was that this river was used as the Anduin, approaching the Pillars of the Kings, in The Fellowship of the Ring. Unfortunately, the exact site is not visible from the roadside, but enough can be seen to recognize the general area. It is also the river that Aragorn falls into when he slides over the cliff--that shot was intercut with the rock edge at Deer Park Heights, where more grass and rocks is really what is below that ledge.

The rest of the drive took us through gorgeous upland grasslands, filled with flocks of sheep and red deer herds, ringed by ranges of mountains. We both said that, should we ever really think about emigrating, this would be one of the areas we'd consider (just fantasizing, family, relax!). The only other stop was at one of the area's many fruit stands (it's a big apricot, cherry, and grape growing district) where there was also a surprisingly beautiful formal rose garden--an unexpected treat.

'Home' again to Silverlea cottage, with plans to relax Friday and pack up for our next move, to the gentle fruit and wine country near Nelson (top of the South Island), near the famous Abel Tasman Park.