There and Back Again

Let's face it, here at fedafone, we are huge fans of J. R. R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson. We can go on and on about why we love The Lord of the Rings so much, why we keep laughing at all the memes even 20 years later, and why we'll be revisiting this trilogy every year. The main paradox is that the films have already crossed the 20th anniversary, but you continue watching them in one seating.

And no, we basically didn’t watch the recent masterpiece from Amazon, so here we will talk about the original Lord of the Rings trilogy and no less epic films about the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, and more specifically, about the locations in New Zealand. If you have been dreaming of going on this fantastic journey all your life, then this article is for you.

If you are not a happy resident of Australia, then usually a trip to Middle-earth for you will begin from this far away country - almost all flights to New Zealand make a change in Sydney or Melbourne. In practice, it turns out that the longer the transfer in Australia, the cheaper the air ticket, so many travelers lay down a connecting time to get to know the city, take a little walk, eat and warm up after a long flight.

Your little Australian trip will be the perfect introduction to your journey to New Zealand. It is no coincidence that this picturesque country has become the main filming location for films, because director Peter Jackson and screenwriter Fran Walsh are New Zealanders. They knew better than anyone else that the magnificent sceneries and variety of landscapes of their native country would be able to embody on the screen the entirety of Tolkien's fairy-tale world.

How to start?

Travel agencies around the world offer tours of Lord of the Rings locations. The duration of such excursions is from 2 to 3 weeks, but the cost bites - get ready to fork over at least five thousand dollars. If you like organized tours, then this option is great, but keep in mind that in addition to memorable places, you will also be taken to other attractions in New Zealand.

If you prefer independent travel, then in this regard the country will please you - almost all filming locations have suitable infrastructure, and for very remote routes you can always stay at a campsite. You can visit all places without crowds of tourists and at a convenient time for you.

Shire – Matamata

New Zealand is located on several islands, the largest of which are North and South, where most of the shooting was carried out. We recommend that you start your trip from the North Island, drive through all the locations, and then take a ferry to the South Island so that you don’t miss a single place of Middle-earth.

In both trilogies, the story begins with the Shire, the place where hobbits have lived for many centuries. The film crew visited the town of Matamata just south of Auckland on the South Island and, inspired by the picturesque nature of this place, decided to build an entire hobbit village here. After filming was over, the city administration decided to use it as a tourist attraction and did not fail at all - every year fans from all over the world come here and replenish the local budget quite well.

Now the city of Matamata is known precisely because of the "Hobbiton", at the entrance to the city they even installed the corresponding signs. Almost all the Hobbit houses were kept intact, but, unfortunately, they cannot be entered, since mostly only facades were built. But, immediately after the release of the prequel about the hobbit, the Green Dragon bar opened in the village - the very one that Merry and Pepin remembered and where the hobbits liked to come after «the heavy work». The tavern is very fond of tourists, the interior is thought out to the smallest detail and the atmosphere in it is very authentic. The Green Dragon serves Hobbits' favorite beverages: Girdley's Amber Ale made from the finest grains of the Southreach, Sackville Cider from the Southreach, Frogmorton's Ginger Ale and more.

Mordor - Tongariro Natural Reserve

Since the itinerary of the trip is different from the story itself in the films, after visiting Hobbiton, go straight to the Tongariro nature reserve. It is located 200 km from Matamata and can be reached in a few hours. There are 3 active volcanoes in this terrifying national park, one of which, Ruapehu, was used for filming scenes from the slopes of Mount Doom. In this reserve, footage from Mordor and nearby places was filmed: how Frodo and Sam walked in the armor of orcs to Orodruin, how they struggled to go through the impenetrable labyrinth of Emin Muil and how the Last Union of people and elves was held.

Not far from Ruapehu flows a small waterfall Tavkhai, from which a river is formed - it is said that the scene with Gollum in the Forbidden Pond was filmed here. True fans of the trilogy are a little anxious to walk around this reserve, because the places are very atmospheric and have not changed at all since the filming.

Helm's Deep, Isengard, Shire Woods – Wellington

Scattered across several rolling peninsulas, Wellington (400 km south of Tongariro) is home to many iconic sites that every Lord of the Rings fan will know. This includes the quarry, where the battle of Helm's Deep was firstly filmed, which later turned to the battle in Minas Tirith as the crew completely changed the scenery, and Harcourt Park, where you can recognize the gardens of Isengard before Saruman turned his possessions into an uninhabited wasteland, and even the forests of the Shire, where many scenes were filmed 

It is worth going to the capital of New Zealand to take a walk in the surrounding forests, where the adventures of the hobbits in the Fellowship of the Ring were filmed. First of all, go to Mount Victoria to see with your own eyes where Frodo and Sam met the elves leaving for the West, where four hobbits first rolled down the slope and Merry "seems to have broken something", and then hid from the Nazgul in a hollow under the roots of a tree and ran from them to the Buckleberry ferry. Interestingly, the scene at the Windfall and the gathering of Rohan's troops in Dunharrow were filmed in the same forest!

Edoras – Mount Sunday

Take the ferry (the most common form of transportation), which after 4 hours will take you to the South Island. This part of New Zealand is more peaceful and less crowded, there are huge “stations” - local sheep lands, the incredible Southern Alps with Mount Cook - the highest point in the country, as well as glacial valleys, lakes and fjords. However, we remember, that we came here not to ski or enjoy the beauty of lakes – we want to study LOTR locations, so further we will talk about the places of our interest of the South Island.

The ferry will take you to the port city of Picton, from where we advise you to immediately go to the vicinity of the mountain village of Methven, where Mount Sunday is located, which served as the main location of The Two Towers - Edoras, the capital of Rohan, and all the main landscape shootings of the second part of the film trilogy. The palace of Meduseld was rebuilt here, serving both as a decoration, a warehouse and a dining room for filmmakers.

Pelennor Fields – Twizel

After visiting the country of horse breeders, drive southwest to the town of Twizel. The grassy plains around Minas Tirith were filmed there, and the city is also popular with astronomers for its clear skies and dark nights.

The Pelennor Fields are located on private land, the Ben Ohau Station Sheep Farm, and can only be accessed as part of a tour. Even if you are not a big fan of organized trips, we assure you that you will enjoy this tour, because the guides tell the most interesting details that you will not find anywhere else - for example, on the set of a large-scale battle for Minas Tirith, extras were severely lacking, so the film crew had to invite everyone who was in this district for money, and both local residents and ordinary tourists were involved in filming. Success!

You will immediately recognize all the locations that were filmed here: how Gandalf drove Pippin to Gondor at the beginning of the third film, how he rushed to the aid of Faramir and repelled the Nazgûl with a pillar of white light, and also how the Rohirrim army came to help in the battle and how King Theoden gave the best uplifting speech in the history of cinema (in our opinion). In general, be sure to visit this location at the end of your journey through the Lord of the Rings.

Your trip to all the locations will truly be a “There and Back Again” as you can fly from New Zealand mainly from Auckland and Wellington. Catch the ferry back to the North Island and watch the labyrinths of fjords and densely scattered rocky islands whizzing by. You will definitely not want to leave, but so it goes, there is a long flight ahead. We bet that it will pass unnoticed - after all, you can watch all 3 films in the director's cut and, upon arrival home, plan your next trip to this amazing country.

And before your trip, don't forget to get the fedafone special “There and Back Again” bundle (coverage in Australia and New Zealand), created especially for Middle-earth fans. You can easily refer to the films while visiting all the locations and immediately share your impressions with your loved ones - they will be happy for you, but not from the bottom of their hearts. Thanks for reading!