On the Trail of 'The Lord of the Rings'

I originally posted this piece about "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" sites in New Zealand on October 24, 2013, shortly after I visited them. With the release of the the final segment in the Hobbit trilogy, however, I thought it would be appropriate to update this one a little and post it again! 

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND — One of the most enjoyable things I did on my recent trans-Pacific voyage from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Sydney, Australia, was to take a tour in Wellington, New Zealand, that took me to a number of the sites where The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies were filmed, to include a visit to Peter Jackson's Weta Studios! Following are some representative photos from this experience. The New Zealand fantasy film industry was, in fact, one of the things I spoke about during my tour of duty as Destination Lecture about the Royal Caribbean International vessel Radiance of the Seas, and is one of the things I will spoke about at a number of 2014 conventions, including Dallas Comic & Pop Expo (March 1-2) and Comicpalooza (May 23-26). Above right is the entrance to the municipal park where several of the scenes associated with the departure of Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin from the shire were filmed. 

 

Above left, Ted Guise of Wellington Movie Tours displayed on a laptop scenes filmed at the various spots we visited. Above center, a scene from the Lord of the Rings shot in the tree pictured in the upper right corner of the first image; above right, me and Diane Varhola recreating the scene in question with props provided by Guise.  

Above left, Guise also brought story boards depicting stills from The Lord of the Rings, this one showing the scene in which the Hobbits roll down the hill into the woods after being chased by Farmer Maggot. Above right, our recreation of Frodo and the Hobbits where they landed on the road, played by me and a trio of au pairs. 

Above left, in the foreground four tour goers recreate the actions of the Hobbits as they hid below the road, while in the background four others represent the Dark Rider, its horse, and the roots and tree depicted in the scene — which were artificial and created for the film! Above center, the clever Guise showed our group how to replicate the image of a Dark Rider in silhouette. At right, our actors can be seen in their guise as a Dark Rider. 

Above and below left, some of the life-sized Troll statues displayed at the Weta Cave, which provide ample opportunities for amusing fan photography. 

Above center, the Weta Cave has on display numerous props and models from The Lord of the Rings and other movies produced by the studio. Above right, we had the opportunity to go beyond the red door while we are at Weta Studios, where we learned about props and models created for their movies! Photography was not allowed but anyone who cares can buy me a beer and I will tell them about all the wonderful things we saw there.  

Above left, a glimpse at the massive green screen at Weta Studios — note that the wall it is built on is made of stacked up-shipping containers! Above right, some of the rocks along the shore of Wellington Harbor that were used as models for the stonework in the lair of Shelob the giant spider. 

If you are in Wellington, New Zealand, or will be visiting it, be sure to check out the Lord of the Rings tour to see all of this and more yourself. Otherwise, be sure to check out one of my great presentations during the convention season in 2014! 

Greece, the Ghosts of South Texas, and Trips Past

CANYON LAKE, TEXAS -- Am at home writing this as I try to complete a current project, prepare for an upcoming trip, and reflect upon my most recent big adventure. 

* As many of my friends know, I am the editor of Clerisy Press's America's Haunted Road Trip series of travel guides to reputedly haunted places people can people can visit and am also the author of three of its titles. Two of those, Ghosthunting Virginia and Ghosthunting Maryland, I wrote some years back, and the third, Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country, I am fervently working to finish up now. While this latter book has involved a considerable amount of travel I have not posted too much about it here, as it has got its own dedicated blog (and I have updated it 10 times this month alone!). I have spared no effort on this book and anyone interested in haunted or historical sites in South Texas should do themselves a favor and check it out. (Shown at right is the tower at Comanche Lookout Park in north San Antonio.)

* In less than two weeks, my wife Diane and I will also be leaving to spend a month traveling to several locations on Greece! We will be starting off with a single day in Athens and will be doing something fun but yet-to-be-determined with my friend Dimitri Kremmydas, who lives there. Next morning we will be flying to Crete for six days and, among other things, are planning on visiting the Minoan ruins at Knossos, the Samaria Gorge, and the cave where Zeus was believed to have been born. We will then move on to the island of Santorini, site of the largest volcanic eruption in human history and known in antiquity as Thera, were we will spend 10 days, a week of it with our close friends Richard and Laura Allan, who will themselves be flying down from Scotland (Hotel Atlantis, the place we will be staying, is the large rectangular building in the picture below). We will then travel by ferry successively to Rhodes, Kos, Nisyros, and back to Kos, where we will spend a couple of days with my friend and colleague Brendan Cass and visit some of the sites I have featured in my "Swords of Kos" fantasy fiction novels. Then, we will fly back to Athens for a day and, from there, return home! 

* In the midst of everything else I am have also been trying to finish posting to this site the journal I kept during my voyage last September and October from Hawaii to French Polynesia, New Zealand, and Australia on board the Royal Caribbean vessel Radiance of the Seas, for which I served as the cruise lecturer. 

More to come as I complete one project, finish talking about another, and embark upon the next! 

Radiance of the Seas Cruise Log, Day 14 (October 7/Monday)

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND -- Arrived in port here c. 10 a.m. Cold and windy and I am still under the weather; slept OK, but had weird dreams as with last several nights and woke up a number of times coughing. 

Breakfast in Windjammer; had congie, vegetable fried rice, scrambled egg, coffee. 

Finished reading The Bounty! Did not get read as many of the articles on regional matters I brought with me, mainly because I have also been trying to write, but have overall done a pretty good job with my reading list (especially when one considers how many other things we have been doing and how slowly I read). 

Visited the Te Papa Museum of New Zealand and viewed exhibits on natural history and Maori culture, the whare, or huts, and greenstone weapons being high points for me. 

Discovered that food is, indeed, very expensive here; had lunch at a nice but relatively modest cafe across from the visitor's bureau and city hall called the Lido and had a dish of lamb stew, a bowl of soup, and a glass of wine, which came to NZ$41. 

Boarded bus for 2:30 tour of Lord of the Rings filming sites in and around Wellington, especially in the Mount Victoria parks. Then went to Weta Studios and got a behind the scenes look at things it has done and has in the works, its prop and model creation methods, etc. Wellington Movie Tours owner/guide Ted Guise did great job and graciously drove tour attendees directly back to port instead of just visitor center. (See "On the Trail of 'The Lord of the Rings'" for more details and photos!) 

Dinner in Windjammer; nice coconut curry shrimp, Indian vegetables, OK Manhattan clam chowder, sugar-free/taste-free rice pudding. Ordered bottle of Charles Krug Merlot, thanks to recommendation from Kevin Furness and had one glass each (and am having another as I write this). Furnesses and John Robson came in while we were eating and joined us. John and Kevin each told a joke and I followed up with a hilarious one about CIA agent trainees that I think I first heard from Scott O'Connell. 

Agreed to meet K. and J³ Furness and J. Robson at Champagne Bar at 6 p.m. and to bring our bottle of champagne.