While I visited many Lord of the Rings film locations during my multiple road trips all over the North Island, people kept telling me “the South Island is the real Middle Earth.” With its untouched, mountainous geography and less than ¼ of the New Zealand population living there, the South Island is the perfect setting for filming an epic like the Lord of the Rings. It’s no wonder I couldn’t help myself while road tripping around the region. Everywhere I looked I could envision orc battles, hobbits having second breakfast, and elves and men riding their horses across vast landscapes.
I sought out many of the South Island film locations with my equally nerdtastic travel companion, Carolina. Some were easier to find than others and some were less accessible than others. But in the end, we visited most of the locations completely independent from any paid tours—and we had great adventures of our own finding them!
A biting chill set in as we tucked into our tent for the night on the first day of our 2 day hike in the Tongariro National Park. I shivered most of the night despite my 10 layers of clothing, sleeping bag and silk liner. I am surprised I managed even 3 hours of sleep between the cold and the pain in my feet from the tendonitis and blisters I developed during the day’s hike.
In the morning, I was simultaneously dreading and looking forward to the walk ahead. We would be reaching the highest peak at the Red Crater where outstanding views awaited us. The views turned out to be more spectacular than I could ever have imagined! The surprise of the landscape was the perfect distraction from my aching feet. But my excitement got the better of me—an additional hike up the Tongariro summit led to my utter defeat.
There I was, a German man and a Czech man in tow, approaching the crest of the hundredth hill I had climbed in the previous 8 hours. “Just one more, guys. Then we’ll see our campsite!” Peering over the top, I was greeted with yet another rocky valley with a steep hill to mount on the other side. “Okay,” I breathed deeply, “don’t hate me but there’s another one.” A long sigh of “UUUUUUGGGGGGGGGH” came from behind.
This was the Tongariro Northern Circuit. Sounds like a nightmare—and perhaps that’s the right description considering we were tramping all day in the shadow of “Mt. Doom” through film locations for Mordor, the dark, treeless setting for the evil enemy Sauron’s base in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) films. As 1 of 9 New Zealand “Great Walks,” the Tongariro circuit turned out to be equally as beautiful as it was challenging to hike.
At long last, I was at customs about to leave Bangkok headed for New Zealand. I was in a strange place in my head, sad to leave Thailand behind after only one month there, but excited to be headed to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city.
My arrival to New Zealand happened to coincide with the premiere of the final Hobbit film. I chose Wellington as my destination city because it had been home to the film’s studio and workshop as well as the previous two film premieres. But just a few weeks before my scheduled flight, I learned the final premiere would be held in London instead. At first I was disappointed, but then I remembered why I had planned to visit New Zealand in the first place: to see the gorgeous countryside. So my plan was to get out of the city as soon as possible. Easier said than done.
