A Long-Expected Journey

My adventures through New Zealand, which truly is Middle-Earth.

Et Eärello, Endorenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar, tenn’ Ambar-metta.

I: There Air New Zealand Economy Flight Review
II: A Hobbit’s Holiday The Filming Locations of LOTR
III: Back Again Air New Zealand Premium Economy Flight Review

My first introduction to Middle-Earth was The Hobbit, read aloud to me in elementary school. I immediately wanted to know more about the adventures of Bilbo and his magic Ring, and had read The Lord of the Rings multiple times before Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring was released in 2001. I was 12 years old at the time, and it took a great deal of convincing to get my parents to let me see a PG-13 film in the cinema.

I of course immediately fell in love with the film, and spent the next three years delving deep into the Middle-Earth legendarium (though it wasn’t until high school that I was able to get through The Silmarillion). Ever since, New Zealand has been the number one place I’ve wanted to visit.

I: There

I flew Air New Zealand from Los Angeles LAX to Auckland AKL on their newly-refreshed 777–300ER, which has 3–4–3 seating in Economy. I was hoping for an upgrade to Premium Economy, but my $275 bid was not enough to secure an upgrade. It was fairly cramped, and due to (in my opinion) extremely mild turbulence, there was no drink service throughout the entire 12-hour flight. The IFE selection was quite good, and overall it was a decently comfortable ride. Arriving in Auckland, I was able to stop at the Air New Zealand Domestic Koru Lounge while waiting for my flight to Christchurch. The lounge was very pleasant, with a wide selection of toast, warm pastries, and a full-service espresso bar!

My flight to Christchurch was on Air New Zealand’s domestically-configured single-cabin A320. There was no dedicated boarding lane for Koru Club or Star Alliance Gold members, which was unfortunate as the boarding line was quite long. The flight was uneventful, and it was cloudy so there wasn’t much to see out the window. Upon arriving in Christchurch, I tried to access the Koru lounge, but was told it was for departures only. That was definitely a disappointment, and a policy Air New Zealand really should consider changing — after such a long journey, it would have been very nice to have a place to freshen up.

II: A Hobbit’s Holiday

I was lucky enough to have a a travel companion in my dear friend Kevin, who currently lives in Christchurch and possesses certain useful talents which I lack… such as driving. After spending a night there, we flew to Queenstown to begin our adventure through Middle-Earth. This Air New Zealand regional flight was quite a shock to me — there’s no security whatsoever! We walked into the airport, presented our boarding passes, and walked across the tarmac to our aircraft.

Our first stop was Glenorchy, a small region about an hour away from Queenstown. Here was filmed Nan Curunír, the Wizard’s Vale in which stood the Circle of Isengard and the tower of Orthanc. Though of course Isengard was created only in miniature and CGI for the film, the area was immediately recognizable from the scene where Merry and Pippin (perched atop Treebeard) see the army of Uruk-hai marching out of Isengard.

On the way to Isengard we passed a curious collection of hills that, had the scene been included in the film, would have been the perfect place for Fog on the Barrow-Downs.

We tried to continue up to Paradise, where the Fellowship entered Lothloríen, but the road was washed away and probably only passable in a 4WD vehicle.

The next day, we drove to Mavora Lakes. The lakes and surrounding area were used extensively for The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Our first stop was at the south end of South Mavora Lake — the hill where Éomer and the Rohirrim piled and burned the Uruk-hai corpses. This is also where Viggo Mortensen kicks a helm and falls the the ground with a strangled scream — ostensibly displaying Aragorn’s pain and frustration at the supposed deaths of Merry and Pippin, but in reality he had in fact broken his toe.

This is also the entrance to Fangorn Forest — though the trees shown in the film were CGI’d to look older and more intimidating.

Next was the south end of North Mavora Lake. Inside a stand of trees off the road was the forest used for Parth Galen, the site of the Breaking of the Fellowship near Amon Hen. The most recognizable sight is the fallen tree behind which Merry and Pippin hide from the Uruk-hai. Next to the log is the large tree that Frodo sits behind as Merry and Pippin realize he has decided to leave the Fellowship and continue to Mordor alone. This area is just a short walk from the road, but is very tricky to find. We spent almost three hours searching until we finally found it.

North Mavora Lake itself was used for Nen Hithoel, the lake between the Argonath and the Falls of Rauros. We walked the eastern shore of North Mavora Lake, which was actually the western shore in the film. Here Frodo departs and Sam wades into the water after him.

The next day, we took a 4WD tour called Safari of the Scenes. The tour guide was very enthusiastic, but the other four members of the group seemed to not be particularly interested in The Lord of the Rings, which we thought was weird considering the price of the tour. The tour began with a far-off view of Deer Park Heights. Sadly, the hill is private property and they don’t allow visitors. The top of the hill was used for the exodus from Edoras and the Warg battle. Next we were taken to the site of the Argonath, the great statues of Isildur and Anárion that the Fellowship pass through after leaving Lothloríen. Finally, the tour took us to Arrowtown, a small gold-rush era town used for the Ford of Bruinen — the river Arwen and Frodo cross after evading the Nazgûl. This part of the tour was particularly cool, as most of the driving was done in the shallow river itself. This alone made the tour worth the price to me.

On the way out of Queenstown, we stopped at a small trail the view from which was used as the background for Amon Hen. The actual clearing where Amon Hen was built is unfortunately not accessible.

It was a beautiful sunny day, so we took a stroll through Ithilien afterwards. The trail starts from the Twelve Mile Delta car park, where we could see a stream that looks similar to the one Gollum splashes down trying to catch a fish, while Sam looks on in distaste. After crossing a small footbridge, we arrived at the ledge where Frodo and Sam watch the Haradrim and their Mûmakil march by. Just a few meters away is the campsite where Gollum delivers the coneys and Sam cooks a stew.

After Ithilien, we moved on to the Otago region to find the woods used to film Arwen and Frodo’s flight to the Ford of Bruinen. Though the woods are on private land (and the fences were barbed), the unsealed road offers great views of the pine forest they ride through.

Finally, we were off to Poolburn. The Poolburn Reservoir is accessible via unsealed roads, though we had to stop and open a few gates (don’t worry, it’s not private land!). On the banks of the southeast side of the reservoir was a small fishing village. Though the village itself is now gone, the old fishing houses were disguised as farmhouses and used as the small village in the Westfold that was attacked by Wild Men.

Ten minutes south of the reservoir, there are grassy hills covered in schist towers. Wandering among them, we were able to find the “passageway” the Uruk-hai take Merry and Pippin through, where Pippin drops his Elven brooch. Almost all the shots of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli running through Rohan were filmed here.

We spent the night in Twizel and visited the Pelennor Fields the following morning. The location is on private land, but there is a public car park and walking path through the farm. The vast region was completely deserted, so we were able to stray from the path for a great view of the plain and the stream Gandalf and Pippin cross upon arriving in Gondor.

The day turned dreary, and forced us to skip a visit to Mount Sunday, the hill upon which Edoras stood. Guess that one’ll have to wait until next time!

After spending the weekend in Christchurch, we flew up to Wellington (the “Middle of Middle-Earth,” as the airport proudly proclaims) where we were greeted by enormous statues of Gollum, Gandalf, and the Eagles of Manwë. The next day, at the urging of Elrond, we drove out to the Wairarapa region to see the Putangirua Pinnacles and walk the Dimholt Road. After turning into the DOC car park for the Putangirua River, we took the “Pinnacles via streambed” walk to experience them as the Grey Company did. The Pinnacles were quite stunning, though the trail is slightly confusing: orange DOC markers appear to lead away from streambed, but the trail is overgrown and full of unpleasant prickly bush — so stick to the streambed itself. The Pinnacles are quite stunning, and look exactly as they did in Return of the King. Unfortunately, when we reached the end of the trail we found the way was shut (it was, after all, made by those who are Dead) and we dared go no further.

Returning to Wellington, we drove up to Mt Victoria, where many of the “leaving the Shire” scenes were shot. The mountain was absolutely gorgeous right before sunset, with the light filtering through the trees just as it did when the Hobbits found their shortcut to mushrooms. On our own, we were only able to find the area where they hide from the first Nazgûl (the famous tree and root system were brought in) and the tree tunnel Frodo looks into as he hears the not-so-distant cry of the Nazgûl.

The next day, we embarked on a full day Lord of the Rings tour guided by Jack Machiela, the founder of the NZ Tolkien Society. We began with a (more productive this time!) visit to Mt Victoria (though the weather was less cooperative).

Next up was a guided tour of Weta Workshop; unfortunately, there was no photography allowed in the room with the actual props. All the props in the gift shop were plastic replicas. The tour was quite interesting, focusing on the physical props, such as armor, weapons, miniatures, and molds. The attention to detail is remarkable, especially for the “fake” props: small weaponry that either doesn’t exist in real life, or must be made safe to throw, etc.

We then ate a picnic lunch in Rivendell (the area where Rivendell was filmed has been officially named thus by the New Zealand government), where some of the sets are being rebuilt. Currently, only the archway of the south entrance of Rivendell exists — this is where Legolas and Boromir arrive, and where the Fellowship departs. Bilbo’s bench is the next set piece scheduled to be (re)built this year.

No one in our tour group objected to stretching out the day a bit, so we made two unscheduled stops on the Hutt River. The first stop was in Kaitoke Regional Park, the section of the river Faramir wades into in his dream, where he sees his brother’s body pass by in an Elven boat.

The second was near 91 Gemstone Drive, and is the bank of the unnamed river Aragorn falls into in The Two Towers. This specific section of the bank is where Aragorn is found and rescued by Brego.

Finally, we made it to Harcourt Park, which became the Gardens of Isengard before Saruman’s fall. We strolled under the trees where Gandalf and Saruman discuss the Ring being found in the Shire, and were able to see the trees marking the entrance to the Circle of Isengard before its scouring.

It was time to leave Wellington the next morning. We drove to Tongariro National Park, which was heavily used for Mordor, the Emyn Muil, and Ithilien. Timing and injuries prevented us from doing the Tongariro Crossing and climbing Mount Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom), but I hope to return soon to do that full-day hike. In the park region, we found the deep pool which was the inspiration for the (mostly CGI) Forbidden Pool outside Henneth Annûn.

It began to rain, so we rushed to the Whakapapa Ski Fields, arriving just in time for the area to look exactly like the Emyn Muil does in The Two Towers. Some of these rocks were used for scenes in the Battle of the Last Alliance as well, including Isildur cutting the Ring from Sauron’s hand.

And then there was only one thing left to do. The next morning, we departed for Matamata — most famous now as Hobbiton itself. The original Lord of the Rings set was constructed on a private farm and mostly destroyed after filming. However, the farm owners continued to operate tours to the partially-demolished site until production began on The Hobbit in 2011. The entirety of Hobbiton was rebuilt for the new series, this time out of permanent materials. The site is only accessible via a paid group tour, which certainly saps a great deal of magic from the place. It’s very crowded, and the demand is so high the the tours are extremely rushed. It’s also painfully obvious which parts of the set were actually used in the movie vs simply brought in for the tours, as the tour props are very low quality.

After winding up the hill to Bag End, we arrived at the Party Tree. This is the tree Bilbo gave his famous speech under, and the field is where all the tents were set up during the party. Next, we walked down Bagshot row past the Gaffer’s Hobbit-hole. This is the hole where Sam and Rosie live in at the end of Return of the King, although Sam and his family are named Frodo’s heirs and move into Bag End soon after. The tour ends with a hideously short (10–15 minute) stop at the Green Dragon pub, where we were served a Hobbit-sized portion of ale (Pippin would have been dismayed to learn that the beer doesn’t come in pints). They server two varieties of ale, a cider, and a non-alcoholic option as well.

And thus it was, the last days of our trip began. And our adventure through Middle-Earth, though eternally remembered by us and on Facebook, was ended. Thirteen days to the day when we set out on our long journey, we found ourselves looking upon an unfamiliar sight: we were in Auckland.

III: Back Again

After a couple relatively uneventful days in Auckland, it was time to sail into the West — uhh, I mean, return home. The Auckland Airport is excellent, which a dedicated check-in lounge and security screening for premium passengers (including Star Alliance Gold members). I thankfully had enough time to check out the new Air New Zealand Koru Lounge in AKL. It’s a fantastic space with beautiful views of the tarmac. The food selection was quite problematic however — every single hot dish contained peanuts! The lemon cakes and mango mousse were both quite tasty though.

The flight itself was fantastic as well. I increased my bid to $510 (I expect this bid was on the high side, and I likely would’ve gotten away with $400 or maybe even less, given that my seatmate received a complimentary upgrade due to his Airpoints Gold Elite status) and was rewarded with a Premium Economy seat, which on Air New Zealand is 2–2–2 and much closer to business class than on most airlines (with the exception of lie-flat seats). In fact, it’s arguably better than United’s truly shameful 2–4–2 Business class on their 777 and 747 aircraft, though those seats do lie fully flat. The seats feature a great deal of privacy, especially the window seats. I was surprised to find that the seatback IFE system was identical to those in both Business and Economy — I think a 10” screen is rather small for a new Business class product. Each seat came with a large pillow, fluffy blanket, and basic amenity kit. No luxury brands here (it’s not Asia or the Gulf after all), but it was a nice touch. The headphones provided were large, over-the-ear models that were much more comfortable than those in Economy, but were still NZ branded and offered no noise cancellation. Business passengers do receive Bose QuietComfort headphones, of course.

The flight attendants were fantastic, offering hot towels and champagne immediately after we were seated. They also gave personal lessons on how to operate the seats and adjust them for maximum comfort. Bar and food service began shortly after takeoff. Everyone was provided with non-slip drink and tray pads, which may or may not be exclusive to the premium cabins — it wouldn’t surprise me if they were used in Economy as well after the incident a couple weeks ago. The food was comparable to an international first-class meal on a US carrier, that is to say, enjoyable but not something you’d eat on the ground. The lemongrass chicken starter was excellent, but the beef and dessert were fairly underwhelming.

Despite the lack of a lie-flat seat, I was able to sleep very well and was rested upon arriving in San Francisco. Curiously, the visitor lanes at immigration were virtually empty, while the US Citizen line was quite long. Thank heavens for Global Entry! My biggest gripe with SFO is its lack of Arrivals lounges for long-haul flights. I know the Centurion Lounge and UA Clubs offer all-day entry, but I’m not sure if the TSA will let you into a domestic terminal without a boarding pass for a flight departing SFO. If anyone has any information, please let me know.

Namárië, New Zealand… until our next meeting.