Eastbound to Dunedin
Friday morning, March 3, 2023. I’m riding the InterCity bus from Queenstown, New Zealand to Dunedin on the South Island’s east coast. It’s a four-and-a-half hour trip. And the bus doesn’t have a toilet. What do passengers do when they get the urge? Fortunately the bus allows for two pit stops. One is at Cromwell. […]
“The Eighth Most Dangerous Road in the World”
I found two companies in Queenstown that offered Lord of the Rings half-day tours: Nomad Safari and Pure Glenorchy. They scheduled an hour or hour-and-a-half break between the morning and afternoon trips. I took Glenorchy’s tour in the morning, but both groups had already booked their afternoon jaunts. (See this previous post for details.) Nomad […]
Isengard in Paradise
Morning of March 1, 2023. Paradise Valley. Otago Region. South Island, New Zealand. East side of the Dart River. Where Peter Jackson filmed scenes depicting the Lothlorian Forest … and Isengard. The Pure Glenorchy Scenic Lord of the Rings Tour took us to Acadia Station, the site of Isengard and Saruman’s castle, placed there by […]
The Road to Middle Earth
New Zealand is known as the shooting location for Middle Earth. It’s also the home of Weta Workshop, the production company that created the makeup, armour, weapons, costumes, and special visual effects. So naturally, I had to take a Lord of the Rings tour. Researching on the web, I found one “My Queenstown Diary” webpage […]
The Best Burgers in Queenstown
The itinerary for my trip was to travel from south to north, starting in Queenstown on the south island to Auckland on the north island. February 28, 2023 Air New Zealand landed me at the Queenstown Airport at 3:20 p.m. The place was surrounded by mountains. None were snow-capped, this being the autumn time of […]
My Trip to New Zealand Begins
It took about a month of planning–figuring out what places to visit, how to travel to each, the availability of the transportation, the kind of transportation, the time and distance it took to walk to the accommodations, the availability of the accommodations, making sure I filled government requirements for passage, adjusting flights to allow time […]
Smaug Comes to Wellington
On the fifth day of their journey, the Hobbit Fan Fellowship arrived in Wellington, home of Weta Workshop, Weta Digital, and the other subsidiaries responsible for bringing Middle-earth to life. Peter Jackson gave them a private screening of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, but first, they encountered a certain fire-breathing visitor at […]
Journey through Real Middle-earth
The Hobbit Fan Fellowship’s trek through New Zealand continued with their third and fourth days chronicled here: Real Middle-earth Diary 3 “Watch as The Hobbit Fan Fellowship land in the adventure capital of New Zealand–Queenstown, where they go on a very special treasure hunt in Paradise, for a once in a life time prize!” Posted […]
A Visit to Hobbiton
On the second day of their journey, November 3, 2014, the fans of The Hobbit Fan Fellowship visited the home of the Hobbits. Tourism New Zealand wants you to know that you can, too. Real Middle-earth Diary 2 “Day two in Middle-earth led The Hobbit Fan Fellowship from Rotorua to Hobbiton where a special surprise […]
Diaries of Real Middle-earth
Even though “The World’s Biggest Hobbit” didn’t make it in The Hobbit Fan Fellowship contest, the folks at Air New Zealand, Weta and Warner Bros. have made it possible for everyone to share the experiences of the lucky winners. Introducing Real Middle-earth Diaries Over 140 Hobbit fans won a trip to “The Real Middle-Earth.” They […]
