Edoras: Golden Hall of the King of Rohan

As most people are aware, the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed in New Zealand. While a lot of the film was digitally mastered, there are still many locations used for outside shots, one of them primarily being Edoras. This major scene was shot a few hours outside of Christchurch on Mt. Sunday. I had decided to hit at least one of the grand filming locations and think that with the exception of Hobbiton (filmed in the upper area of the North Island) that this was going to be my best bet. In all of the tourist areas of New Zealand there are LOTR tours advertised, however anyone that knows me understands I'm not one to do a tour of something if I can conceivably do it myself or at my own pace. I saved the GPS coordinates from some of the LOTR tour books at the library in Queenstown to complement some already recorded in my GPS before I left home just in case I had the opportunity to visit.

It was a pretty long ride that was pretty empty of most structures along the way and at location, but the area was of course beautiful the whole time. Even though it had been a while since I had seen the movies (I just didn't have 12 hours to spare to watch them before I left), I could immediately recognize the are when I drove around the bend. With the first glimpse, I felt I was in Tolkien's world. Even though I still had a long distance to go, I sat for a while making breakfast just taking in the view (while of course listening to the 'Return of the King' soundtrack with the music played during the Rohan scenes) and enjoying the experience. I drove the main road around most of the valley while simply enthralled with the astounding view. The whole are was pretty much fenced, but I know from brochures that the tours ran through there and even saw a couple of cars parked near the access gate. I jumped the gate near the road and simply walked a while near a stream across from the mountain. Though mostly a ranch with lots of cows around, even the streams seemed pristine and scenic. I chatted with a family (which might have been the owners) out with the grandkids for a short while. During that time I saw a tour vehicle in the distance stop to let passengers get some ground level shots and then drive on. Later I saw people on the mountain itself, so I decided to go for it. It was a long walk of multiple stream crossings (up to a little past knee-deep) to follow the road. I still saw some movement when I got up there and not wanting to find out that I may not supposed to be there, I kept out of sight around one of the hills until I figured they left. After that I had the whole place to myself and walked around as I pleased. Except for a few foot paths and one or two small concrete pads used for structure support, I could not see any signs that this had once been a major construction area for a feature film. Even sans anything related to LOTR this would have made a good way to spend most of the day, but it was of course made better because of the cultural significance. I eventually walked back to the car after sitting thee for probably over and hour and drove to Christchurch to try to make the evening hash run with the other local group. I didn't make it before the pack had left and I tried to follow the trail, but it seemed to have disappeared a half-mile from the house, so I headed back to wait for the group. Circle was about the same, i.e. no songs,, but with a few more folks than the evening prior. It was a nice mixed group and I had a decent time. I was able to get on the host's computer to check into my flight and confirm the last of my travel plans. After that I headed up some of the local mountain roads and found a parking area in which to crash.

The last little trip marked the end of the best, and longest by far, trip of my life. It was incredibly exciting, activity packed, and worth the effort. I met so many really good people and saw some of the most beautiful spots on Earth and am so thankful to have had such an opportunity to experience this place.