I left you at the end of the last instalment as we headed to Kaikoura, on South Island, and I’m still going to hold back on that because we spent the last week there, having the most amazing time.
So, passing on, we headed for the magnificence that is EDORAS, home of the Horse Lords, and the Golden Hall.

Built on Mt Sunday, in the Mt Potts high country station, we were sadly not blessed with the weather we’d hope for. In fact, it not only chucked rain at us, but thundered and lightninged as well! Having gone there though, we were not to be deterred, and set off on the 30 minute hike to where no sign of construction remains, yet it is still totally recognisable.

Mt Sunday aka Edoras

And here I am, soaked right to the skin, directing Rohirrim traffic in my Olympic GamesMaker uniform!

The view from the top would have been fantastic – if only the clouds had cleared a bit more 😦

We travelled on through the mountains to Twizel, where we stayed in the most charming hotel, and look what they had in a display case in the lobby

 (Sorry, getting a bit LOTR geeky here)

and on again to the farm that doubled for the Pelennor Fields, the site of the huge battle in front of the city of Minas Tirith.

It was hellishly windy, and still some showers, but that made for the most incredibly beautiful image:

The only evidence of there having been 250 horses and a massive film crew at one time was a single prop, which was found in the long grass 2 years after filming. Considering that such weapons were carefully counted out and in each day, SOMEONE must have gotten into a fair bit of trouble, losing this one. Our group wasted no time getting to grips with it…

 and this father decided he could do with 3 less daughters…

We couldn’t go there without having a re-enactment of King Théoden’s speech and the charge of the Rohirrim – could we?

Here’s the original

And I got to fly the flag of Rohan on the site of the battle charge 🙂

We moved on via a beautiful lake

a salmon farm where we found these cute ducks with the most amazing bright yellow eyes

the private vineyard where Arwen’s flight from the Black Riders took place – amazing how large a scene can appear in a film, when it takes place is a tiny location such as this!

a stunning mountain pass

and the 45th Parallel (whatever that is!)

to Cromwell, where we stayed the night in the very lovely Golden Gate Lodge Hotel

Just 2 days left of the Red Carpet Tour then on to some more sightseeing and incredible experiences – looks like this will be a 5 parter after all!

Although the LOTR tour will not be to everybody’s taste, I chose it as (apart from being a film geek) it is a fantastic way to see the many and varied parts of NZ – and I wasn’t disappointed!

Anyone else been there? Or still on the bucket list?