"The Lord of the Rings" is one of the most colorful epics made in recent years. To many viewers, these films will be remembered for the incredible beauty of the landscapes. Most of them can be seen with your own eyes in New Zealand.
Elves and Hobbits in New Zealand
The small town of Matamatu, which is located in the Waikato region, is now a place of real tourist pilgrimage. After all, it was in the vicinity of this city that the Shire was filmed - the wonderful lands where the people of hobbits live. With small farms, green rolling hills, and heather, Waikato was the perfect location for this shoot. Most of the scenery is still preserved in the vicinity of the city, so here you can see hobbit holes with green round doors, a huge tree where Bilbo Baggins celebrated his birthday and other memorabilia from the film.
In the vicinity of Wellington (the capital of New Zealand), filming lasted for three years. Here you can see the incredible landscapes that surrounded the Rivendell Elven Valley in the film, and nearby are the plains on which Orthanc stood. Walking through the hills of Wairarapa, you can reach the gloomy peaks of Pitangirua, where the Path of the Dead was filmed from the third film.
Not far from the famous resort city of Queenstown, which is located in a unique natural area, the golden forests of Lorien were filmed - the places where the beautiful ruler of the elves Galadriel reigns. And a dozen kilometers from this city is a wonderful national park called Deer Park Heights, where the battle of the Rohans with the orcs was filmed.
Rohan and Mordor
Canterbury is the largest region of the South Island. On its most beautiful plains, the Rohan city of Edoras from the second part of the epic was located in the film, it was here that the golden palace of Theoden called Meduseld stood.
Southland is one of the most picturesque corners of New Zealand and is home to the Fiordland National Par. The Hutt River, flowing in this region, in the film turned into the great Anduin, the heroes of the film sailed along it, leaving the golden forests of Lorien.
Volcano Ruapehu Peter Jackson (director of the film) shot in the role of Mount of Fire, or Orodruin. Everything began and ended with the flame of this volcano in the film. There is a whole walking route for fans of the film, tourists can see many places familiar from the film, go to the Ohakune River, where Gollum fished, and see stunning mountain landscapes.
The variety of climatic zones, stunning nature and beauty of New Zealand made it the ideal location for filming a fantasy epic.
