Not every Lord of the Rings film location in New Zealand is as sculpted and maintained as Hobbiton. In fact, few are. Part of the agreement between the filmmakers and the country was that any alteration to the land had to be undone afterwards. All construction removed, any damage healed, and even foliage replanted if necessary. Which means the film sites are now hidden, sometimes in plain site.
One should not underestimate a determined fan.
Here are the New Zealand North Island film sites I traveled to right outside of Wellington:
Hutt River / Faramir’s Dream
In the very early hours of the morning, we set out on our journey. After all, we needed to catch the light for photos. The sun had just peeked over the mountains when we reached our first site, the shore where Faramir dreams of finding Boromir’s boat grave. There may have been a discussion with my tour guide about the feasibility of wading into the water. It may have been discouraged due to the freezing winter water.
Kaitoke Regional Park / Rivendell
There is a signpost in Kaitoke Regional Park list that points the direction towards the ‘Picnic Area’, ‘Camping Facilities’, and ‘Rivendell’. In case you need a clearer marker, there’s this directly in front of the trail:
The elvish blade had been concealed by my tour guide who drew it out for us to take photos. He did let me carry it to the next site. This Gate of Rivendell was never in the movie, as all scenery had to be completely removed and the land restored post-filming. WETA Workshop did help the local fan-run tourist board reconstruct it, along with several picture signposts scattered in the area to help place where you were standing in the film.
There were a few spots where the “stone” had weathered, leaving you to see how it was truly constructed. But far from being disappointed, my geek brain gave way to my stagecraft brain, and I spent a happy few minutes (hahaha, “few”) deconstructing how it was assembled in my head.
Fernside Farm / Lothlorien
Of all the sites I most wanted to visit, Lothlorien was on the top of my list. There’s only one site you can visit outside a long-since deconstructed sound stage, and that’s at Fernside Farm. Unfortunately, Fernside Farm is private land. Fortunately, I found a tour company that had an arrangement with the owners. Which is literally the only reason I did so many of these sites with a tour company and not on my own.
How excited was I to learn that the Fellowship leaving Lothlorien was filmed in early winter, so the foliage would match when I was there in person? I don’t know if even master linguist J.R.R. Tolkien himself could describe it.
Harcourt Park / Gardens of Isengard
Before Saruman revealed himself to have been completely corrupted, the area around Isengard tower was very nicely manicured. The movies do capture the last stroll he and Gandalf take through the Gardens of Isengard together. My tour guide took us to the exact spot, then reached into some nearby bushes and pulled out a giant walking stick. In his words, “If you’re going to walk the path of a wizard, you need a wizard’s staff.”
The trees in the park felt like sleeping Hurons, patiently awaiting the day the Ents would march. I wouldn’t make it to Fangorn Forest for another couple days, but in a way, I was already there.
Miramar / WETA Workshop / Trolls
Before entering the WETA Cave, you are explicitly told “NO PHOTOS”. Which makes sense; it is an active workshop full of copyrighted images, even if they are under construction. The team even warns you that if anyone thinks you’ve taken a photo, they will take your device and wipe all the images from it. All of them. Yeah, I turned mine off and stuffed it in the unreachable bottom of my bag.
There was less weapon forging than I had envisioned, but everything was fascinating to behold. Instead of possibly infringing on copyright, I will just encourage anybody who enjoys behind-the-scenes reveals to go here. Just make sure you don’t risk your photos being deleted.
Mount Victoria / Shortcut to Mushrooms
Also known as the “Get off the road!” scene and easily the most accessible site to get to from Wellington. It’s walking distance from town. Normal-walking-distance, not Kaitlin-walking-distance. This was the last stop on my tour, so the first time I saw this site was in complete darkness. Having been “there” once, it was easy to go “back again” by myself. Fortunately a very kind dog walker passed by and was happy to take a few photos. He was a local and joked that he was becoming an expert; I wasn’t the first fan to have asked.
The tour company I used was Flat Earth Tours. They may still operate, though the original site where I found them has since been dismantled like a LotR film site build. You can however still arrange for a tour at WETA Workshop on your own. Apparently they’ve built a second one in Auckland!
Kaitlin’s Adventure in New Zealand was from June 8-25, 2017