Day 10 Wellington Rover tour for Lord of the rings and a side step

Day 10 Wellington Rover tour for Lord of the rings and a side step

Today was the day that I was going on a huge adventure with the local Lord of the rings guide. What I did find when they picked me up for the full day tour was that there were only two people. Myself and another bloke as well as the guide. They both were very knowledgeable with not only the movies, but with all of the works of Tolkien. What more could I have had with my day than these two awesome blokes. I had even gotten pictures of Weathertop in the North of the island too.  This was where Frodo was stabbed by the witch king. I did learn there was more to the story to the rings and the characters that do not appear in the movies. I never knew there was so much that had been written by the man himself. I did say that I was surprised that there was not more people on the trip as the new movie would have renewed interest in the movies again. Still I thought it was better than nothing to have less that three people on a trip and I did like that it was a small group as well. I have done the tour before and thought it was time I do it again as there might be more that would have been revealed as time had gone on.

The locations we ended up were near everywhere and there was so much information that it was generally mindboggling with what these two men knew and where the filming had taken place. We went to Mt Victoria, where I first learnt of the Orcs on bikes that rode down the hill and tore up where places had been that were filmed. There were many locations in this area that were in the movies like where the Hobbits rolled down hill and found mushrooms, where they met the dark riders in the dead forest, Where the armies were gathering to head to the last great battle with only 6,000 men, the Rohirum I think it was called. King Thorin and Strider were discussing how many people had came and the interesting part was that they were facing the cricket grounds and I think it was the kiwis and the Brits were playing, so we might know what they were really discussing. The bloke with us did show us all where else to go and the actual correct shots of some areas too especially where the cameras actually ran along mount Victoria. There were some tricky places and we did find the spot also where Frodo and Sam were cooking and Frodo was lying in the branches of the tree. Most of the things going on happened only in the extended version of the movie on DVD. I have watched that and own it so I know and remember some of it. They did mock Star Wars being bought out by Disney too.

We then went hunting down some of the studios in the city like the digital one near the airport. We were watching some of the planes land as well. The guide did point out a little terminal where Peter Jackson has a hanger for his aircraft. Something around 30 million and he lets his friends keep theirs inside too. It was also pointed out that many of the buildings that Jackson owns happens to have a Norfolk pine in the vicinity.The Roxy movie theatre was where we went for a wander as that has something to do with Peter Jackson. They had old art deco stuff and posters. I shouldnt start talking about HUAC and the Cold War style movies, although It wasn’t that bad and there was some Lady there. I cant remember her name, but she is a Lady. How do we know they have something to do with Pete? They have Lord of the rings figurines upstairs and have gotten used to our guide floating around, so do not accost him anymore. We were shown the outside of Park Road and Camperdown studios otherwise known as Weta. We did do the Weta cave and I tried buying a few books and was advised that I should wait as they would be cheaper elsewhere. The warehouse was one such place as the books were marked up pretty high. I will listen to them as I think it would be true. Weta has done many shows including Frignteners, Hercules and Xena for starters.  They had statues too of Gandalf the Grey, The Witch king and Gollum. I was surprised by the cost of some of the ites that they had and one of the things was nearly $6,000. We did hang around the art department too on the outside. Funny story when the American studio wanted to know why the security did not have guns, so instead they installed many security cameras. I cant remember if the studio we sat outside of was actually Mirimar as it was an art department and if you see a camouflage truck floating around town then this has something to do with any number of Peter Jackson movies. He does have around 200 shipping containers of stuff from the last movies he had done and when people notice them gone, then he is sorting out what he needs in a warehouse. These containers are used for the backdrops for the green screen as everything they do is big. The other guy with us, for the life of me I cant remember his name had actually wandered around the area and if any doors were open then people would run around closing them. A little crazy and even the guide did have his pic up on a wall as he frequented the places too. Devout fans and I am happy to be part of the day with them.

One of the places we stalked was Peter Jackson’s house in Scorching Bay of Wellington. The onld location of the chocolate fish was where we did stop and were going to have lunch, but was decided it was better elsewhere and the guide knew a place. I was told I could walk up the stairs for a great view of the bay and he was right. The day was really wonderful and beautiful especially on the water. We did go look at some places that were shot like where Sam had fallen and gotten stuck on the rocks at the Black Gate. This was also where Frodo used the cloaks to cover them both. Another was where there is now a school at the Dorset Cove, which was one of the locations and on the other side of the airport on the beach was where the Hobbits learnt to surf. There was a sign for dogs that could read. Woof, Woof, Ruff? No idea, don’t ask me at all. Dogs can read in Wellington, apparently Wellington is the only place where you will see a person in a suit talking to a person in a wetsuit. After lunching at a put put golfers nightmare of a place and a metal sculptures dream. The guy was known by the driver and we looked around and it was pretty cool. Pictures can describe it more and there are plenty. Lets just say the guy is eccentric and is well worth the visit and so are we all, I guess. After lunch we headed to Rivendell, where on the war we stopped off where the quarry is. This place was where Helms Deep and Minus Tirith was built for the movies. A study of accidents during filming could be done as in car accidents of rubber neckers. Another place was where the river was and some of the scenes had been shot during the fellowship with other areas superimposed over like places in Queenstown. They were impressed that I was going on a tour in Queenstown though.We seen boy racers doing their thing and racing around on the gravel in their cars.  Rivendell was our second last stop, where I was given the props of ears and Sting. Turns out the sword was actually known as a Bilbo. Since it was Bilbos sword he had a blbo. We did have afternoon tea here and fed some eels where one duck was a little afraid of these eels. The last place we went to was where Isengard had been shot in the Lower Hutt park. You could see where the path was just, but it was still there and this place was where they also shot the parts where the orcs cut down the trees to fire their furnaces. We were shown another place where the ring was pulled out of the water by Gollums friend. We did keep meeting up with the half day tour first time at the water and the second time at Rivendell. It was pretty funny as well and two of the people were from Singapore. Maybe people just like doing half day tours. I cant remember every single bit o info, but there was enough that I can include to a blog about my trip and I can still remember lots of it the next day especially after a decent sleep.

On our way back I asked to be dropped off at Te Papa museum where they were open until 9pm. I stayed there for an hour and half before having to make my way back before it became too dark and there was something else I wanted a picture of before it got dark. The museum actually has the skeleton of the greatest horse ever, Phar Lap. I know Melbourne had it and now i know of another location. Several of the displays like The Treaty of Waitangi, The different eras of New Zealand and also the immigration of new peoples into the country. I would have stayed longer as there were some interesting displays especially about diversity in NZ between the us and them crowd and also the changing uniforms like the militaries from the red coats to now. This was the Regent Cinema I think it was for the premieres of the LOTR movies. It has a huge camera nearby that just looks a little freaky if you think about it, but I nearly took yet another photo of Queen Victoria. I had to get a big A2 folder for my posters I had been given and the family tree I had gotten as well from the Wanganui archives. It was something I needed and should have taken over with me.

 I had dinner too and headed back to my room, where I found the cleaners had gotten over enthusiastic and taken my towel that had marked where my bed was. I had rented this towel for $12 and I was fuming as other people had moved into the room and I had to remake my bed. I didn’t yell or scream at the chick at the counter, but told her I was not impressed and that I would like a replacement towel. I was tired and wanting a shower so I felt fresh again especially when I got back from my long wander around 8pm. I got my towel and I changed beds as it wasn’t worth the hassle of kicking up a fuss, plus they were Canadian women who wouldn’t be too happy with me. I did tell the girls about the Darwin ice Hockey team and I don’t think they got that part. I will be heading to Picton tomorrow from Wellington in the afternoon. It is only an overnighter before bussing it to Christchurch where I will be driving a tank. It could be worse, I could have left my toothbrush in Wanganui and never had brushed my teeth for a few days.