New Zealand Day 4: The Day I Became a Ringwraith & Went to an Ice Bar (3/25/08)

One of the rules of visiting New Zealand is going on a Lord of the Rings Tour. Okay, it might not be an office rule, but it sure is number one on Nicole’s Rules of New Zealand. While most people chose to go bungee jumping, sky diving and hang gliding (which I totally would have done if I had enough money), I went on a LotR tour via horseback. Now, anyone who knows me well enough also knows that I have a fear of horses – I find their ridiculously large eyes and equally massive legs very frightening. I figured with this tour it was a way to hit two birds with one stone: complete the tour AND quell my fear of horses.

I saw this on the way to my tour. too perfect

photo opportunity on the way to Paradise Reserve

The company, Dart Stables was about a 45 minute drive from downtown Queenstown. On the drive there we stopped a couple of times for classic photo opportunities. One of the spots that we took pictures was from a scene in the movie. The scene is where Frodo and Sam see the Oliphants for the first time and are then taken by Faramir.

This is what we saw, although the scene is shot looking up, not down like we were

what the shot looks like in the movie

The ride itself took place on a reserve called Paradise, which was exactly what it was – absolutely gorgeous. We mounted our horses and broke into groups of 6 each group accompanied with a leader. I rode a beautiful brown horse by the name of Pip (please note: this was the only horse with a LotR name. Clearly it was fate). The first LotR site we visisted on Paradise Reserve was Lothlorien. Our guide explain why the forest looked so different than how it is shown in the movie, which is due to the fact that half the forest in the movie was built as a set! Regardless it was still beautiful.

hello Lothlorien

Next we made our way to where the Tower of Isengard is set. Isengard itself is digitally placed onto this piece of land, but the views were absolutely breathtaking. You could completely recognize the area as well as the mountains in the background. Those mountains were the ones used as the Misty Mountains, a huge mountain range in Middle Earth. The mountain we saw was Methedras, which is the southernmost mountain in the range. At the base of the mountain, the Plains were used as the Golden Mile, where Gandolf rides Shadowfax to get help for the Battle of Helms Deep. I’ll stop here as to no show all my nerdiness.

Place Isengard here

The Misty Mountains

The last LotR filming place was another forest scene, one that I recognized right away. The forest was used as Amon Hen, where the Fellowship breaks up at the end of the first movie. The most notable part of Amon Hen is that it is where Boromir tries to take the ring from Frodo and then is killed trying to protect him. It was amazing to be able to recognize a set of trees so vividly – it was crazy. In that same area there was a tree so large that you could actually hide a horse behind it. It’s the little things in life that we love. A little ways away our guide showed us there a scene from the not yet released Chronicles of Narnia movies was shot and then from the upcoming Wolverine movie.

Amon Hen

The whole ride which lasted about an hour and a half was beyond beautiful. It felt as though I was actually in Middle Earth, a land known for vivid colors and astounding views. I was completely lost in my surroundings and amazed that there is still a place like this, in a world filled with skyscrapers and automobiles. I feel bad for people who are too busy to not take notice of the world’s beauty. I hope that I have more time later in life to continue experiencing and taking in everything around me.

Fellow Ringwraiths

Our guide was a funny guy from England who said he left the country to explore the raw nature of New Zealand. When he found out I was from California he made a reference to how it was better that I was from northern California, not southern and that those girls wouldn’t be able to figure out the reins for the horse. True? You decide.I was very proud of myself for facing my fear of horses and doing well on my ride. I am so blessed to be able to do this tour – while the sets were gone, the ride was calming and worth wild for true fans.

Making our way along the trail

Pip and I played shadow puppets

and then I met the Hobbits!

Later that night we went to a bar called Minus 5, as it was minus 5 degrees Celsius. We were outfitted in uggs, giant fur lined parkas and gloves. We looked like Eskimos! Entrance fee was $22 which included 1 drink and then $5 drinks after that. The bar was sponsored by Absolute vodka, so all drinks included that. All of the glasses were made from ice and they had big ice sculptures lining the walls – it was unreal. We took tons of pictures even though our hands were completely numb.

as you can see everything was ice except the door separating us form the outside non-frozen world

the drinks looked pretty and tasted amazing

this is how Eskimos say hi

In other news, we went to another bar, drank too much and one of the girls in our group won a bar dancing contest. We try to keep it classy.

the guys and our tour leader, Shane, pose for a picture. too much