As you all probably know, Fraser and I do enjoy old P.J's masterpiece. What better way to spend some of our travelling time than to visit the odd location or two where filming went on. We thought we would share some of these visits with you.Firstly, lets take a look at the man himself: 
and now lets take a look at where some of the creative genius occured, his house:
This guy is a legend, he's worth millions and yet he's happy to live in this lovely, but not very grand, house and he has two of his oscars in clear view. One is leaning against the toilet window and the other against what looks like an office window. We have visited Seatoun about 3 times, and each time we had to make a pit-stop at the Chocolate Fish Cafe for some small-town gastronomic delights. The chocolate cake is particularly palatable!
Here are Sally, Kt, Fred and Laura showing you how fantastic the chocolate cake is with a cheeky family fortunes wave! The green building to the left is the Cafe...
The Chocolate Fish Cafe is essentially Pete's local cafe and as a result the cast and crew would go there for food and drink, during their time-out from film discussions. The cafe is very sweet and has no air of grandeur even though it has played host to a number of famous actors. The staff are delightful and are more than happy to have a chat about their encounters with the cast. Generally though, it's just a local cafe that is bursting at the seams with business.
The first 'Lord of the Rings' encounter we had in New Zealand was Hobbiton.
It was a fantastic day made even better by the perfect sunny weather. Just like the Shire! We were taken to Hobbiton in a van named ' Sam' by a driver named David. He was very cool and made sure our every need was met, he even stopped on the way there so we could try New Zealand's award winning steak pie, which truly was a treat in itself! Afterwards he took us to the 'Shire's Rest' which is a little cafe dedicated to the movie, he opened it up and had layed on a little spread for us saying "I've gotta look after my little Hobbits'". We really loved it there and didn't really want to leave once the tour was over, it was such a beautiful little place you could totally imagine Hobbits living there.
Alas, we did leave and this brings us to the next part of our Lord of the Rings expedition, The Lord of the Rings Exhibition at 'Te Papa' museaum in Wellington. Sadly pictures were not permitted so you'll just have to take our word for it that it was amazing! The detail that went into the costumes, props, and mini scale buildings etc. was incredible. A lot of blood, sweat, tears, and love went into these movies thats for sure!
We did mangage to get a picture of the miniature pirate ship that Aragorn et al arrive on in the final installment of the trilogy, it was in the foyer so we got snap happy....
....and here are me and the girls after the exhibition, pleased as punch!
Living in Wellington we were able to take full advantage of some of the nearby scene locations, which is precisely what we did. Just across the road from one of the hostels we were staying at, stands the magestic Mt Victoria. This is where they did the filming of the "Get off the road!" scene in the first film and the running from the Ring Wraith scenes. After an exhausting climb and much deliberation of where the location actually was, we were finally pointed in the right direction by Kt and Sally (what would we have done without their words of wisdom!).
Finally, we arrive at the best bit....the spoof filming! We decided to mark Kt and Sally's last weekend in Wellington with a little filming of our own. Kt and Sal provided the camera, the 'bling' (our version of the one ring - a diamond encrusted beast), and the trusty multi-purpose fishing tool. We provided the location guide and the map. Then with a hop-skip and a jump we were on our way to the car rental place. Here we adopted 'Lurtz' for the day, so named because he was a big, black, mean, machine.
Do you see the likeness???
The weather was wonderfully cooperative and we were soon on Highway 2, sunglasses on and the tunes blasting out of Lurtz. The first stop: Rivendell (Kaitoke National Park)
It was slightly drizzly when we got there, but I cannot convey the complete tranquility and gorgeousness of this national park, and sadly I don't think the pictures captured it either. A little imagination was required to picture the sets just as they appeared on film, although there were a couple of boards up depicting what the set was like when it was active.
Here we have a picture of me at a point where Legolas stands to look all serious (as he often does)...
...and here is Fred masterfully acting out Frodo lying in bed after the weathertop stabbing, in the exact location where Frodo's recovery room was filmed.
And this is a few warm up shots of us getting into character!
Let me introduce the cast:
Fraser - Gimli, Pippin, and of course...Gollum
Laura - Frodo and Aragorn
Kt - Legolas, Merry, and Boromir
Sally - Sam and Elrond.
So, our first day of filming included the moment where Frodo and Sam meet up with Merry and Pip again after weathertop...brings a tear to even the most macho eyes and includes an impromtu 'Dashing White Sergeant ' reel. Soon after this was the moving scene between Frodo and Bilbo (a character position quickly filled by Sally) when they meet for the first time since Bagend.
Then we have the dramatic 'Council of Elrond' scene where all characters were tried and tested to the limit, including some spritely character hopping from Fraser and some aggravated table thumping by Kt as an extra off camera. This is also the scene where all props were utilised. Not to be missed is Gimli trying to destroy the 'bling' with his multi-purpose fishing tool!
After only one take (such professionals) we loaded ourselves back into Lurtz and were whisked off to the next location: The river Anduin where we filmed the 'breaking of the fellowship'.
Unfortunately we were so consumed by our roles that noone had the presence of mind to take pictures, but take my word for it...it was moving stuff! The scene where Sam is chasing Frodo into the water at the end of the first film is touching, now we didn't actually go in the water, although it was such an intense moment there were occasions where Sally and I nearly did (damn those slippy rocks!).
After a little character change, as I morphed into Aragorn, I was joined by Legolas and Gimili for the emotional and quite motivational "you mean not to follow"....."then the fellowship has failed"...."not if we stay true to each other"............."lets go hunt some orc!!! Raaaaaaaaar!!!"Here endeth the first day of filming.
The next day was kick started with a wee trip to Eastbourne where Fred, Kt, Sally, and Elaine went to take in the pretty views of the South Island's snowy mountains. Can you see them?? right in the distance....
....and here is Fred trying his hand at skimming some rocks...bless!
After I had finished work I was collected by the crew and we headed for Mt Vic and our final section of filming. On route to the film location we did a quick shot of Gimli and Legolas running (because they did it a lot in the film!) including a comedy moment with Gimli having a moan mid stride. Then when settled, we did the scene between Gollum and Sam with the "what's tatters?" moment over a hot stove (or maybe just a shopping bag filled with leaves). Both actors deserved an oscar for this, Fraser for his impression which was amazing as ever, and Sally for staying in character and keeping a straight face whilst Kt and I cracked up behind camera!
Below is a picture of us just after we had filmed the scene where all the hobbits fall over the edge after being chased by the farmer (involving the camera being balance on a tree - very hightech), closely followed by the "get off the road" moment, the hiding from the ring wraith under a tree root scene, and the running through the forest heading for Buckleberry ferry. In the last few scenes laughter got the best of quite a few of our high grade actors, but its good quality footage so we kept it, it is a spoof after all.
It was an absolutely fantastic couple of days, enjoyed by each and every one of us, full of laughter and some crackin acting I must say! Now we're just waiting for that phone call from Pete with the job offers.
And thats a wrap!
