Our first full day on New Zealand's North Island was beautiful, affording many great views of the city of Wellington. High on our list for Day #1 was a 1/2 day "Lord of the Rings Tour" where initially we visited the site where Frodo and Sam, having left the Shire, are quickly forced to hide at the approach of the horrible Nazgul/Ring-wraits on horseback in quest of the ring. (Does the scene look familiar?)
I am pictured in the exact place where Sam and Frodo hit while the feared horsemen passed by. Rest assured! Special effects added large tree roots as cover between "me" and the narrow dirt road on which the horsemen rode. Needless to say, it was fun being there and trying to re-create the scene.In addition to seeing the river Anduin and the place where Helm's Deep was filmed, we had a nice stop for coffee and muffins at Rivendell -- a beautiful location, but a place that obviously required many special effects.
Then, at still another location Nancy and I got to pose as Gandalf and Saruman, with an appropriate staff for each of us, at the place where Gandalf and Saruman were filmed walking on the path toward Isengard! (Note the pix of Gandalf and Saruman standing with Director Peter Jackson.) - rw 
Note: If you notice the poplar tree over to the left of the photo (above), and then look at the LOR photo book that's also shown in that picture, you will see Gandalf riding a horse on the path toward Isengard. Barely visible at the extreme left of that photo is the same poplar tree!
2 comments:
In the hopes of placating baba yangu's desire for comments on the blog, I will comply. But I'm really curious whether it is true that, "Mac's Brewhouse on the waterfront has the best beer in NZ." As this was part of your itinerary, I am quite sure that was a high priority, yes?
I think I must have skipped that part of the blog posting? Or is that for today?
Dad, you look just like Frodo in that picture. That place looks really nice... did they let you ride horses there too?
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