Queenstown, NZ
45.0302° S, 168.6615° E
Field Documentary
Fun Facts
-
Lord of the Rings facts:
-
For the Gondor king statues in the river, as a surprise, Peter Jackson got Vigo Mortinesen's father and grandfather's pictures from his wife and put them as faces on the statues. It was extra special because his grandfather had just passed away.
-
Sean Bean (Boromir) was afraid of heights and so he would hike up the mountain in full gear and shield for filming. One tour guide told me that he took the helicopter once and Billy Boyd told the pilot, 'Sean loves helicopters, give him the ride of his life'
-
For the scenes in the first movie when the hobbits are running down the hill, Peter Jackson had them run up and down the hill to get sweaty
-
For the scenes in Lothlórien Forest, Peter Jackson wanted the leaves to be a golden color so he got local school children to pain them the color he was looking for to place on the forest floor.
-
The Favorites
This was one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen on a hike. It just kept getting better and better the higher you got!
It was so special to be in the forest from Lord of the Rings and don Gandalf's greys!
Glenorchy Library
The smallest library in the southern hemisphere and an Accidentally Wes Anderson selection!
Glenorchy Wharf Shed
Another Accidentally Wes Anderson selection! Glenorchy, a settlement at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu, was founded in the 1860s by sheep farmers. For almost a century it was accessible only by steamboat, making its simple shed a busy hub, even though the increasingly unstable wharf made disembarking feel like “walking the plank.
Hiking in Queenstown, listening to the steamboat horns, sounding like a bank of orcs on the attack.