Middle Earth to Mordor

The next day, the terrible wind had somewhat died down, and we were free to carry on our way across the North Island. Any fantasy fan worth their salt knows that New Zealand starred as much of the backdrop for Peter Jackson’s epic screen adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings series. It seemed only right that one of our first stops was to the patch of beech forest that housed the set of Rivendell, the home of… some of the elves from the books (I’m not going to pretend to have read them or to have even managed to stay awake through the films). The area includes a replica archway of that which starred on screen, providing ample photo opportunities, but be warned, if you visit expecting the site to look film ready, you will be disappointed. A lot of imagination is required, though helpfully there are information boards which show famous scenes and how they were filmed.

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After our brief wander in Middle Earth, we continued to a town called Woodville, which was near a particularly beautiful freedom camping site located in a river gorge. It had the added bonus of the state highway running alongside side it being closed for maintenance, making the spot super peaceful, aside from the occasional noise from the neighbouring windfarm turbines. We spent the afternoon skipping stones on the river, basking in the sun and enjoying the surroundings.

The next day we continued on our way to Rotorua, a main town on our route, but not before we travelled along Desert Road, a highway cutting across the desolate Rangipo Desert and which is home to some of the filming locations for Mordor. On the horizon, Mount Ngauruhoe can be seen, which was used as the stand in for Mount Doom during filming. The place was kind of eerie and we half expected to be attacked by orcs at every corner!

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