Check out the 5 travel destinations that any “The Lord of the Rings” fan cannot miss
It’s the home of Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings film, with an inviting green door.
Pre-Test before reading this article:
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to consider the following before you decide to set foot on Middle-earth in theNorth Island of New Zealand.
- Don’t go if you are NOT a fan of Adventure
- Don’t go if you are NOT a fan of Road Trip
- Don’t go if you are NOT a fan of Natural Wonders
Ticked for all 3? Great, now, let’s take a glimpse of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world through the lens of the one-and-only Sir Peter Jackson, director of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Hobbit” trilogy, and the most-anticipated “The Lord of the Rings” TV show which will premiere on Amazon Prime.
Below are 5North Island locations that any fellow LOTR (“The Lord of the Rings”) fan with limited time of stay in New Zealand can look into when planning for their Middle-Earth tour.
“Farewell. Hold to your purpose. May the blessings of Elves and Men and all free folk go with you.”
Elrond, “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001)
Destination #1 Hobbiton/ Shire
Don’t say you are a true “The Lord of the Rings” fan if you miss this place, cuz it’s where the film crew created the beautiful Shire in theNorth Island of New Zealand. With 44 unique hobbit holes scattered across the emerald hills, gardening tools and harvested crops casually laid on the side of Bagshot Row, and a big Party Tree by the pond overlooking this idyllic paradise.
You will be blown away the moment you step foot on this real-life Shire, as those tiny delicate details successfully recreated a comprehensive and picturesque fantasy land.
For example, you will probably notice a big oak tree just above Bag End. And only if you look super close you might realize all leaves are artificial. These fiberglass silk leaves are imported from my home country Taiwan to New Zealand. Workers were hired to hand-painted the 200,000 leaves to make them more real and then wired them one by one to the tree. All these efforts only appeared for less than 1 minute in the movie.
The original oak tree was 100% real when “The Lord of the Rings” was filmed in 2001. It was dead when the crew began to shoot “The Hobbit” in 2011, so that’s when the fake tree came in.
While walking around Hobbiton, you may also be wondering whether those vegetables and fruits are real. Yes, most of them are real plants, and they are edible too. A team of gardeners is taking good care of them as a hobbit will do. After the tour, you can even taste them in the pastry served in Green Dragon Inn.
Would you like to take a sip of hobbit’s favorite drink, homemade Ale? Just go straight to Green Dragon Inn. During the film shooting, Peter Jackson asked the local brewer to create a special beer with less than 1.1% alcohol. Actors had to drink a tone of them during the famous Bilbo’s “eleventy-first” birthday party scene. Now you can enjoy the beer exclusively in the inn, and receive a complimentary drink after the tour.
Of course, the beers served in Green Dragon Inn nowadays are a bit different from the ones in the movie. As you can imagine, ale with only 1.1% alcohol may not be tasty, so currently there are 3.7%~5% alcohol version ale, apple cider, and ginger beer for your choosing. Also the local brewer changed from Christchurch’s Harrington Brewers to Good George Brewing of Hamilton. Probably because the former one was acquired by a Japanese company in 2018.
And here comes a secret tip to make your Hobbiton tour more fun, that is, COSPLAY! Before your trip to North Island, you can either find some local agents with Frodo or Aragorn costumes or simply order some small props online. I myself chose to bring along a pair of pointed ears. Why? Because that would make me more like my favorite character Legolas (which drew a bit of attention during the tour).
But do keep in mind, there’s a 2-hour limit of a regular daytime tour. Make sure you don’t take too much time doing poses at one single Hobbit house. There are 44 of them and there’s no way you can find them all. Wait, maybe you can just ask the visitor who set a record of 3,500 photo-taking within one 2-hour tour.
Destination #2 Tongariro National Park/ Mordor
A big scary eye above a mountaintop or tall tower may be a familiar portrayal of villains in horror movies. In ”The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002), the 2nd film in the LOTR trilogy, dark cloud-surrounded Mordor and one all-seeing red eye on top of Barad-dûr tower built up a similar intimidating image effortlessly. After all, only the evilest beings like Dark Lord Sauron would choose to reside in a creepy place like this, right?
Arriving in New Zealand’s first national park and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tongariro National Park close to evening, I knew a short walk was more doable before it went completely dark. I chose the 20-min return Tawhai Falls Walk near State Highway 48.
Shortly after, one look in the direction of Mount Ngauruhoe, and I shouted with excitement, this is Mount Doom! With the evening tone, the mountain seemed to be showing off her evil charm to the fullest.
New Zealand’s Tawhai Falls can be a nice surprise. You may also know it as Gollum’s Poo. It was where Gollum’s fish catching scene took place (another shooting location is Mangawhero Falls). The scene captured this funny-looking and skinny creature jumping between the slippery rocks and singing the fish song with pure joy, while Faramir and his archers watched viciously on top.
Guess where was Faramir standing, it’s the hidden refuge Henneth Annûn. There you go, the surprise is that you get two LOTR locations from one easy short walk. Of course, the falls seem much larger compared to the version in the film and some book illustrations. Given Tawhai Falls is only 13-meter high, the visual effects team had to work their magic once again.
If you love hiking and natural scenery, do consider adding Tongariro Alpine Crossing to your itinerary. It’s a 19.4km one-way journey where you can experience the beautiful national park in full.
You may also want to rest at the historic Chateau Tongariro Hotel. LOTR crew stayed at the hotel when shooting Mordor scenes. Both are on my must-do list if I can visit again.
Sorry, this article is longer than I expected. Let’s pause here for our North Island journey, enjoy the subtropical expedition with Hobbits so far? Stay tuned. In the next article, we will explore the rest 3 locations on the South Island of New Zealand. And you can find the awe-inspiring snowy Mt Cook!
Reference Materials:
- The Lord Of The Rings Location Guidebook by Ian Brodie (2011 edition)
(I bought the book in a souvenir shop when waiting for my helicopter ride to Fox Glacier in South Island, and it’s a total gem for LOTR fan)
2. https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page
3. http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Main_Page
(All the characters and location names in this article are linked to LOTR or Tolkien fandom page for detailed descriptions)
All the photos in this article were taken by me, welcome to follow my Instagram account here for more.
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