Tours to the filming locations of the “Lord of the Rings” films were also offered in Queenstown. Allegedly, one of the hills in the area belongs to Peter Jackson.
We initially drove along Lake Wakatipu, in the background of which you could see various mountain ranges like the “Remarkables”, where various scenes were filmed. This tour then took us further to Glenorchy and an area behind it called “Paradise”, which lives up to its name in terms of landscape. Isengard For example, some of the scenes set in Isengard were filmed here.
Along the way, we also saw a “scary tree” that surprisingly no filmmaker has discovered and used yet.
After a few more stops in beautiful landscapes, where we also learned a lot about other films shot in the area.For example, Wolverine actually lived in Paradise in the film of the same name, not in Canada. Next to his hut, however, there was a tree like in this picture - but it only grows in New Zealand. We continued to a coffee break in the forest, where Boromir died and the battle took place in the first part. There were also cloaks and swords. We were allowed to pose for photos with these film props. On the way back, we took a walk and could see the place where Sam, Frodo, and Gollum had set up their campfire and cooked rabbit. An enthusiastic fan marked it with stones. Right next to it, you could see where Frodo observed the approaching armies with the oliphaunts and also look into the gorge where they were never actually present because they were added later with computer graphics. Only the human actors had to march there. The next afternoon, we did the second part of the tour towards the east. First, we came to the Kawarau River, where the scene from the first part was filmed, in which the Fellowship passes between the pillars of the kings. The boats were built according to Tolkien's description in the book, but he was not a shipbuilder. So, they couldn't go straight and the shooting took a bit longer... Arrow River
We also drove to the Arrow River, which we crossed in a four-wheel-drive vehicle. The road partly ran over adventurous field paths and partly through the river. This is where the scene was filmed in which Arwen saves Frodo from the pursuing Nazgûl - or at least the part that had to be shot in a shallow river so that the horses could stand.
We tried our luck here as gold seekers - but unfortunately, we were unsuccessful. Finally, we drove the Skippers Road into Skippers Canyon. The narrow, unpaved road was very winding, but it offered a beautiful view. This road was built by the gold diggers who flocked to this area in large numbers during the gold rush.
On the way back, we saw Queenstown from a viewpoint - and the dark clouds gathering over it...
