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! 

Aegean Odyssey: A Brief Retrosepctive

A big trip like the one my wife and I have just returned home from makes me contemplate, for good reason, the purpose of travel. To me, it is to learn about the world and better understand one's own place in it; to make connections with people from other lands, both natives of the areas visited and fellow travelers; and to share ones' experiences with others, both in person and through venues like this. Ideally, a person will come back from a trip of this sort with new ideas, a new perspective on their old ones, and a reinvigorated sense of purpose. Suffice it to say that we accomplished with our Aegean Odyssey everything we might have expected. 

In the ancient world of the Mediterranean, hospitality and how people treated strangers was extremely important and was, not to put too fine a point on it, integral to the continued existence of civilization itself. Commerce with other lands could not take place if travelers were subjected to theft or violence or were not able to obtain from their journeys things commensurate in value to what they had expended on them. People like our friends Dimitri Kremmydas in Athens and Michael Townsend in Crete may just be mortal people but, in that they invited us into their homes and made our journey more fulfilling, they follow in the steps of paragons like Aeolus, who used his winds to carry travelers on their paths across the wine-dark sea. 

Many other people bear mentioning here and they include friends Richard and Laura Allan, who journeyed from their home in Scotland to spend six wonderful days with us in Santorini, our fourth reunion since we met them on a Nile River cruise in 2006; my friend Brendan Cass, who made monumental efforts to come to Kos Island for just a day-and-a-half so that he could experience it with me; Nathan and Alison Richards and Toni Symonds, who along with Michael Townsend made our time in Crete much more enriching; the staff of the Atlantis Hotel in Santorini; Stamatis Patiniotis at the Asimis Kolaitou Art Gallery and Giorgia at the Lignos Folklore Museum in Santorini; Mary, Voula Mavrea, and the other staff of the Small Village resort on Kos Island; teacher and caretaker Julie, who shared her knowledge of the Hippocrates Garden with us and her friend Dora, an archaeologist who discussed history and mythology with me; and Sophia Stavrianou at the Porfyris Hotel, who provided excellent advice that helped us make the most of our time on the island of Nisyros. Thanks also to Tracie Conner for getting us to the airport on our way out and to Karen Holmes for picking us up there and to Taylor Conner for taking such good care of our cats while we were on the road. And there are undoubtedly other deserving people I may have neglected to mention in this quick recap of our trip and I beg their forgiveness and will be sure to add them as I update it! 

We encountered villains in the course of our travels as well and, while their impact was much less than that of the good people we met, they bear mentioning. These scourges of the Aegean include the swine that lurk at the port of Santorini and other islands and will not answer polite questions while trying to sell overpriced shuttle rides; the many shiftless taxi drivers of Rhodes, who will drive past visitors hauling luggage up the street in favor of giving ride around town to cruise ship passengers; the gypsies who create distractions with their drugged and abused children while their compatriots pick traveler's pockets; and the restaurants that provide substandard service and food to strangers because they do not think they will have to deal with them again or prefer to deal only with those who speak particular languages. Heracles, Theseus, and the other heroes of antiquity would certainly have wreaked a terrible vengeance on them all. 

Many friends followed our journey, commented on it, and provided encouragement to us during it and I would like to thank them for that. Interestingly, a number of friends commented in response to my posts during this trip about how I don't stop working even while on vacation, which points to the fact that of all the things a prolonged trip like this is to me a vacation is not really one of them. Yes, a journey like this can and ideally should have elements of fun and relaxation, but our four-week odyssey through the Aegean was often physically demanding, was expensive, and was attended by elements of uncertainty and hazard. If we just wanted a vacation we could have much more easily, inexpensively, and quickly gone to Port Aransas on the Gulf Coast of Texas, Disney World, or a hundred other places. 

So this trip was much more than any mere vacation could have been, I achieved my goals with it, and, while I am physically exhausted, I have been mentally stimulated -- and am hitting the ground running with an eye to finishing up projects I set aside when we went overseas and to jumping into ones that are exciting and altogether new. And being inspired and invigorated by a trip is, I think, the most someone can expect from it. 

Aegean Odyssey Day 27 (Kos/Athens)

Took an early morning flight from Kos to Athens, checked into the Sofitel at the airport, and spent the afternoon with friend Dimitri Kremmydas discussing everything from culture, politics, and religion to wargaming and learning how to make phyllo dough and spanokopita! 

More to come! 

Aegean Odyssey Day 25 (Nisyros)

Aegean Odyssey Day 24 (Kos City/Nisyros)

Spent the morning in Kos City and then traveled by Dodecanese Lines high-speed ferry to the nearby island of Nisyros, a journey of about an hour, where we checked into the Porfyris Hotel. 

More to come! 

Aegean Odyssey Day 23 (Kos City)

Purchased ferry tickets to the nearby island of Nisyros, washed in the waters flowing from the fountain beneath the Plane Tree of Hippocrates, and then spent the rest of the day tramping through central Kos City from one archaeological or historical site to another! Got some insights into the history of the city and island over the millennia. 


The marble facade on the fountain shown here dates to the time of the Ottoman Empire control of Kos. According to my friend Saleem Shaikh, it is a combination of Arabic and Persian and means in part: "Allah of this stream shows us that Allah gives life ... beware! Allah can produce ease to whom he wishes." 

More to come! 

Aegean Odyssey Day 22 (Kos Island/Kos City)

Visited Hippocrates Garden, a reconstructed 5th century B.C. physician's home, early in the day with Diane and Brendan Cass. Then, left the Mastichari area, saw Brendan off at the airport in Antimachea, and took the bus into Kos City for a couple of days. 

More to come!