June 24-25

Take the LEFT side!

On Sunday, we got up early, and thanks to some good mountain driving on Laura’s part, we made it to Picton just in time to turn in our rental car and catch the Interislander Ferry to Wellington.

 We were aboard Kaitaki, the largest boat in the fleet- it was 9 stories tall and can carry 1600 passengers when full.  Luckily it wasn’t full. There was a movie theater on board, a two story play place, a couple of bars, a full cafeteria and the top most level was an outdoor deck where we could look out on the Queen Charlotte sounds and the Wellington peninsula.

 As we left the sounds of the South Island, we could easily see the land of the North Island. The Cook Strait was fairly smooth, with just a little rough water as we rounded the base of the North Island and entered the Wellington Harbor. We docked and then took a shuttle to our hotel- The James Cook Grand chancellor. The whole trip is about 30 miles and takes 3 hours. We will stay in Wellington (the Capital) for a couple of days and then make our way north eventually spending our last few days in Auckland.

Frodo senses Nazgul while hobbits hunt mushrooms

Josh here- today I’d say was the best day of the trip. We went on a Lord of the Rings tour around Wellington- viewing places where they shot the movie. We went with a guy named Todd who was an important extra in the Lord of the Rings. First we went to Mount Victoria where they shot s couple of scenes in big pine trees.

Then we went to the river where another scene was filmed, and there Todd had some replica props that we could use- hobbit/elf ears, and a real sword like Frodo’s and he also had Legolas’ bow. Then we went to Harcourt park where they filmed the scene of Isengard with Gandalf. I also sat, stood and crouched where Sir Peter Jackson, Ian McKlellan, Elijah Wood and the other hobbits had been. Then we went to the Weta Cave.

Weta is a special effects company that makes props, makeup, CGI effects and all the non-acting movie magic. We saw a life-sized model of Smeagol (Gollum).  It was so cool to see actual props and miniatures from the movies. It also had maps and things describing Middle Earth and pendants and Jewelry for sale (the ring of course).

Todd as Oliphant driver

Todd told me that one guy bought a $5000 ring that matched the one in the movie, then hired a helicopter and dropped it into a volcano, just like in the movie! Todd was an Oliphant driver in the battle for Minas Tirith scene where Legolas takes down his Oliphant, and he was a courier for Denethar- the steward of Gondor, and was in the scene where Denethar lights himself on fire. At the end of the tour we came back to our hotel and got an autograph from Todd in our new LOTR Location guidebook as well as a shot of him dressed as an Oliphant driver. Having just seen the movies before we left the States, this was a great way to make them a little more real.