Wellywood

One of the big attractions of NZ (for me, at least) was the fact that LOTR was filmed here. We live in Kilbirnie, on the hillside below the Mt Victoria lookout pathways. Here's what Jason's tour guide has to say about this area:

From the city, you can easily walk or drive up Alexandra Road to beautiful Mount Victoria, a well known Wellington icon that affords stunning views of the city and harbour. Part of Mount Victoria served as the outskirts of the Shire during filming. Halfway up on your left is a parking bay with a track (to the left) which drops downhill through the trees. This became the setting for the scene where the fearful hobbits listen for the Nazgul. Continuing down the path, you'll eventually see a small overhanging ledge up a hill on your right, marked by two small trees. It was here the hobbits hid from the Black Rider, although the large tree of the movie was actually manufactured and transported to the site.

We also live just across the bay from Miramar, home to Weta Workshops which created all those magnificent props, models and special effects. We visited the Weta Cave and met some of the 'cast' there:

"Good golly, Miss Molly .... it's - yeah, well, you know who it is ..."

.. and then there was the guy who shot and killed the gorgeous Boromir ... ;-(

The Weta Cave is a treasure trove of delight for fans - and yet from outside it looks so very ordinary.

Local kids drop by on their bikes to check it out - entrance is free!

Just another suburban street in Miramar ....

Yet once inside, you'll find models big and small, books, memorabilia, posters, collectibles and even a twenty-minute film with a lot of behind-the-scenes information - stuff not even included in the Director's Cut Extended Edition version of the DVD - and that was over 24 hours of viewing on its own!! It was a wonderful experience and I'm sure we'll revist this once The Boy gets here next year!

Speaking of next year, we'll also be keeping an eye out for the new Hobbit films that are going to be made in 2010 and 2011 - PJ will be producing and Guillermo del Toro will be directing - it should be awesome. Who knows what (or who!) this project might bring to our end of town. According to Jasons:

Down the city's coast is picturesque Karaka Bay and the seaside suburb of Seatoun, where many of the cast lived during the years of filming in New Zealand. Stop for lunch at the popular Chocolate Fish Café, a favourite haunt of the cast and crew. The prime seating here is actually across the road, right beside the sea - the staff will even brave the traffic (in day-glo vests) to deliver your food. You can also visit nearby Lyall Bay, where some of the actors learned to surf, and Princess Bay, where they enjoyed beachside barbecues during the summer months.

Yep - those are all right here in our neck of the woods!! ;-)