| Wellington’s status as New Zealand’s capital city has almost become secondary to its honourary role as Middle-earth, home to Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, Weta Studios and Embassy Theatre, the world premiere site for the film trilogy. The region surrounding Wellington is packed with former filming locations, and a determined fan can find other Hobbit footprints all over the country.
When I say a fan must be determined, I mean it. New Zealand’s Department of Conservation allowed filming to take place in national reserves on the sensible condition that each leaf, tussock and grain of dirt would be completely restored to its original state. Middle-earth remains environmentally intact, even if it does mean movie fans need a GPS co-ordinator to identify locations.
The only place where part of a movie set remains is in "Hobbiton," where rumour has it a dilapidated round door can still be seen. Unfortunately, the set is on private land and to access it costs $50 a head. Locations on public land – excluding those that are so remote they are only accessible by chartered helicopter – are blessedly free.
Helm’s Deep is actually a small quarry that can be found just off the highway north of Wellington. Down the road is Harcourt Park, which resembles the Gardens of Isengard only through very squinted eyes. A couple of branches from the "Orc tree" (felled to fuel Saruman’s army in the first film) are propped against the wall in the local visitor’s centre, and the staffer comments ruefully that she wishes she’d thought to collect more memorabilia, but they "took it for granted at the time."
A portion of the River Anduin flows through the region, and Rivendell – identified by an interpretive sign – lies 15 minutes away in Kaitoke Regional Park. The forest in which the hobbits encounter their first Nazgul is a pleasant urban pathway in Wellington’s Victoria Park, although the tree roots under which Frodo and his companions hide was made by Weta Studios and is long gone.
A far more satisfying experience is Tongoriro National Park, a highly thermal area in the North Island distinguished by three volcanic peaks, one of which appears in the film as Mount Doom. In the park are the Whakapapa Skifields, which were used as the site of the battle that opens The Fellowship of the Ring. Even with sets and CGI removed, Mordor is perfectly recognizable. It is the most desolate, uninviting ski resort I’ve ever seen, consisting of mounds of black, wind-blown volcanic rock and steep bluffs with ski huts squatting on top of them. The spot where the battle took place is actually a parking lot. This may not be the dwelling place of pure evil, but it appears to be truly crap skiing.
The best place to take a break from location hunting is at Harrington’s Brewery in Richmond, where a tired body can sample bottles of the very beer consumed by the hobbits at The Prancing Pony Inn. Previously sold as Harrington’s Stout, the brew was reduced to less than one per cent alcohol and won its film role in a taste test.
All these adventures paled in comparison to a visit to Jens Hansen Gold and Silversmith in Nelson, where I was permitted to handle the one ring – not the one hawked at markets and High Street shops all over New Zealand, but the golden ring that was used as a prototype for the 40-odd copies that were used in filming. The original ring is heavy, shiny and plain (the elvish writing was added digitally.) I put it on. It didn’t fit, and it didn’t make me evil.
Julia Williams is travelling around the world and exploring the global arts scene. |
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