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En route from Franz Josef to Queenstown

No matter where you go in New Zealand, you are bound to see a sight that will remind you of The Lord of the Rings, an epic film made by Peter Jackson after the great novel of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien. Most of the villages, towns and cities in New Zealand have stories to tell about the filming of Lord of the Rings.

Probably the most stunning landscape in the Lord of the Rings are The Misty Mountains. The Misty Mountains were raised in the First Age. Stretching some 900 miles they contained the highest peaks in Middle-earth. Cloud and weather conditions gave rise to their name. New Zealand's Southern Alps form the backbone of the South Island stretching for over 550 km from Blenheim in the north to Fiordland in the south. The stunning opening in The Two Towers and the lighting of the beacons were filmed high in the glacier region.

There are grassy paddocks that evoke the Shire and trees that hide Ents within. It's easy to imagine Gollum fishing in any of the rivers.

I took a tour out of Christchurch in the South Island and visited the location of Edoras. Edoras (the Courts) was the capital of Rohan and comprised a number of dwellings encircling a central hill housing the King's hall, Meduseld. The roof and pillars of Meduseld were covered with pure gold, and it was also know as the Golden Hall of Edoras. Completed in 2569 (TA) it lay at the feet of the White Mountains near the River Snowbourn. Meduseld had been standing for 450 years by the time of the War of the Ring.

We were told to dress warmly and that we would be hiking and crossing rivers, and going through rural exposed land where weather conditions were highly changeable. The alpine altitude meant that the area could experience extreme weather and temperature changes. The nearest town to Mt. Sunday or Edoras was Methven, a winter resort town that serves the ski slopes of Mt. Hutt.

We passed Lake Camp and Lake Clearwater, both water resorts with stunning views.

Descending into the Rangitata Valley, our guide pointed out Mt. Sunday straight ahead surrounded by reddish brown tussock and Rangitata river tributaries. Since there was no access to the mountain itself, we turned off the main road bumping first through a gated paddock that had to be opened and then closed. We crossed the river several times seeking the safest passage. Finally we arrived at the foot of Mt. Sunday. This craggy mountain is Mt. Sunday. It may not look like much, but it is a bit of a climb to get to the top. It was very cold going up the mountain. We were lucky it didn't rain!

We reached the top of Mt. Sunday and were treated to a 360-degree panoramic view of the massive sweeping mountains covered in snow and the plains below. The view from Mt. Sunday is magnificent! While the wind nearly blowing us off the mountain, the guide described the Edoras set which had since been removed and showed us where Eowyn stood looking out when Aragorn and his friends came riding up. It was from this pink rock that the flag flew down and landed at Aragorn's feet.

Coming down the mountain, the wind blew our feet out from under us!

Edoras was one of the more elaborate sets and took eleven months to complete. The local people were very interested. Armed with binoculars and cameras, they traveled in over the weekends to catch a glimpse of the magnificent edifice. A newspaper journalist hired a light aircraft to fly over the area, obtaining a photographic scoop with the images published world wide.

The economic impact in New Zealand of the Lord of the Rings film by Peter Jackson is huge. He employed scores of New Zealanders as extras and film workers at every turn. Today tourists visit the sites all over New Zealand on their own or on one of the many guided tours. There are frequent helicopter tours since many of the locations are accessible only by air.

Almost every town has a set location nearby and a story to tell. The New Zealand army built access roads to many of the locations and in turn was privy to how the huge operation of a movie feeds, houses and cares for hundreds of people in remote locations. No plants or trees were allowed to be injured or destroyed. On the rare occasion when an area needed to be cleared, each spot where a plant was removed was marked and the plants were taken to a greenhouse. After the shooting, they were returned and tended by a gardener until they were hardy. For the most part, the sets have been removed. Guides, armed with laptops depicting pertinent scenes, point out the geographic markers; then your imagination hits the ‘play' button and cherished scenes come to life again.