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| Discover New Zealand, Home of Middle Earth |
| My daughter Stefanie and I recently spent two weeks in New Zealand,
driving around the countryside following the saga of "The Lord of the Rings."
We drove over 2700 miles (4400 kilometers), not including air miles provided
by Nelson Helicopters
and the Safari of the
Rings in and around Queenstown. We took over 1000 photographs, a representative
few of which are provided here for you to share and to answer our friends'
question, "How was your trip to New Zealand?"
Everyone in New Zealand was so nice that it would be impossible to acknowledge all the hands of friendship that were extended to us. To all of you "down under," we would just like to say "Thank you for making our trip magical!" Our vacation to Middle Earth was the culmination of a journey that started aboard the USNS Nelson Walker on my way to Vietnam in 1967. I happened to pick up a copy of "The Two Towers," realized that there was a previous book, and was hooked from then on. That was 30 years after publication of "The Hobbit." Stefanie's late mother (to be) was then just 11 years old. For the next 30 years, I read and reread the books, bought the audio tapes and calendars, and imagined what it would be like to make a real motion picture, and who might play each of the major characters. I became obsessed with the majesty of the "Lord of the Rings," and the need to preserve it in the culture of English-speaking peoples. To this end, I gave each of my children the famous red leatherette collector's edition. Even after the disastrous Ralph Bakshi film, I still had hopes that someone, somewhere, would make the greatest fantasy in the English language into the greatest motion picture ever produced. You can imagine how thrilled I was when I found out that Peter Jackson was actually going to put the real story to film. Frankly, I had doubts about his ability to produce a motion picture that would rival "Gone with the Wind," Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo & Juliet," or the first "Fantasia," not to mention faithfulness to Tolkien's written word. But day by day, as I checked the progress of the film on TheOneRing.net, I began to suspect that he, Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens and Richard Taylor might just be up to the task. The release of "The Fellowship of the Ring" in 2001 and "The Two Towers" at the end of 2002 fulfilled my most critical expectations. I suppose I was overly excited when I told Stefanie in an extended telephone conversation how much I enjoyed the films and how wonderful it would be to actually see where the film was made and walk in Frodo's footsteps. She waited patiently until I wound down and then said, "Well, Daddy, you're retired and you certainly have the money. Why don't you just go?" As I was about to say, "Okay," she added, "...and take me with you!" The rest, as they say, is history. Enjoy! John H. Lindorfer
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| To begin... | ||
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Early in the game I purchased a copy of "The Lord of the Rings Location
Guidebook" by Ian Brodie (ISBN 1-86950-452-6), which lists a number of
the sites, complete, in some cases, with GPS coordinates, which my Garmin
GPS12 found were dead accurate. Stefanie bought me a copy of the "New Zealand
Eyewitness Travel Guide" (ISBN 0-7894-5523-4), which told me everything
I wanted to know about New Zealand, and then some. Americans going to NZ
for the first time would do well to dedicate about six months to studying
these books. For maps, Americans can't beat the Mobil New Zealand Travel
Maps, which are available in booklet form at the larger Mobil filling stations
in New Zealand.
The kind folks at the information centers below helped extensively by e-mail and research, saving me many hours. Transportation arrangements were made by Cheryl Rambo at Conner Cain Travel Agency in Biloxi, MS, who did a great job putting us right where we wanted to be in each of the airplanes and optimizing our travel schedule. To all these and the unnamed others, thanks again. |
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| Some of the people at the visitor centers who helped plan our trip. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Visitor Centre | Address | Telephone | Contact | |
| AUCKLAND | Auckland Visitor Information Centre | PO Box 7048, Wellesley St
287 Queen Street |
(09) 979 2333
(09) 979 2334 |
reservations
@aucklandnz.com |
Rie Corban |
| CHRISTCHURCH | ChCh Airport Travel & Info. Centre - Domestic | P O Box 14001
Domestic Terminal, Christchurch Airport |
(03) 353 7774/5
(03) 353 7754 |
travel&info
@cial.co.nz |
Belinda |
| FRANZ JOSEF | Franz Josef Glacier Visitor Centre | PO Box 14
Main Road |
(03) 752 0796
(03) 752 0797 |
vctemp
@doc.govt.nz |
Ranger Kate |
| GOLDEN BAY | Golden Bay Visitor Information Centre | Willow St, Takaka | (03) 525 9136
(03) 525 9288 |
gb.vin
@nelsonnz.com |
Ariane |
| GORE | Gore Information Centre | P O Box 1
Cnr Hokonui Drive and Norfolk St |
(03) 208 9908
(03) 208 9908 |
MKing
@goredc.govt.nz |
Melissa King |
| GREYMOUTH | Greymouth Information Centre | P O Box 95
Cnr Herbert & Mackay Streets |
(03) 768 5101
(03) 768 0317 |
vingm
@minidata.co.nz |
Trish Briggs |
| HUNTLY | Waikato District Visitor Information Centre - Huntly | PO Box 54
160 Great South Road |
(07) 828 6406
(07) 828 6409 |
wdea
@xtra.co.nz |
Linda or
Sarah Gulliver |
| MATAMATA | Information Matamata | 45 Broadway | (07) 888 7260
(07) 888 5653 |
matvin1
@xtra.co.nz |
Sue Whiting |
| METHVEN | Methven Travel & Visitor Centre | 93 Main Street | (03) 302 8955
(03) 302 9367 |
methven
@clear.net.nz |
Liz Cornwall |
| MOTUEKA | Motueka Visitor Information Centre | Wallace St | (03) 528 6543
(03) 528 6563 |
mzpvin
@xtra.co.nz |
Sandra |
| MT. RUAPEHU | Whakapapa Visitor Centre | Private Bag
SH 48, Whakapapa Village |
(07) 892 3729
(07) 892 3814 |
wfurner
@doc.govt.nz |
Warren Furner |
| NELSON | Nelson Visitor Information Centre | P O Box 194
Cnr Trafalgar & Halifax Streets |
(03) 548 2304
(03) 546 7393 |
vin
@nelsonnz.com |
Ariane |
| TE ANAU | Fiordland Visitor Information Centre | P O Box 1
Lake Front Drive |
(03) 249 8900
(03) 249 7022 |
vin@real
journeys.co.nz |
Helen Crow |
| TIMARU | Timaru Visitor Information Centre | P O Box 524
2 George Street |
(03) 688 6163
(03) 684 0202 |
info
@timaru.co.nz |
Janet McDonald |
| TURANGI | Turangi Visitor Centre | P O Box 34
Ngawaka Place |
(07) 386 8999
(07) 386 0074 |
TurangiVis
@taupodc.govt.nz |
Elizabeth |
| UPPER HUTT | Upper Hutt Visitor Information Centre | Private Bag 907
6 Main Street |
(04) 527 2141
(04) 527 9818 |
elaine.barnden
@uhcc.govt.nz |
Elaine Barnden |
| WANAKA | Wanaka Visitor Information Centre | P O Box 147
100 Ardmore Street, Lake Front |
(03) 443 1233
(03) 443 1290 |
info
@lakewanaka.co.nz |
Tess |
| WELLINGTON | Wellington Visitor Information Centre | P O Box 11007
Cnr Victoria & Wakefield Streets |
(04) 802 4860
(04) 802 4863 |
bookings
@wellingtonnz.com |
Nathan Eastall |
| Flight from Gulfport, MS to Auckland NZ 3 May 2003 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airline | Flight | Aircraft | Departs | From | Arrives | At | Remarks |
| Continental | 2547B | ERJ | 3:20 PM | Gulfport Biloxi | 4:44 PM Saturday | Bush Intercontinental | Seats 09B & 09C |
| Continental | 1818B | Boeing 757 | 5:45 PM | Bush Intercontinental | 7:29 PM Saturday | Los Angeles Intl | Seats 14E & 14F - Dinner |
| Air New Zealand | 1H | Boeing 747-400 | 9:30 PM | Los Angeles Intl | 5:15 AM Monday | Auckland Intl Arpt | Seats 57B & 57C - Dinner |
| Click on the little picture to see a big one | ||
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Middle Earth is a magical land peopled by hobbits, dwarves, elves,
men, orcs, trolls, dragons, and other monsters. New Zealand is an almost
magical land about the size of Colorado peopled by four million overachievers.
Stefanie and I are not what you would call jet setters, although we have been overseas a number of times. (Do Vietnam and Korean wars count?). This was the first time I had been outside the US since before I was married, and I wasn't sure how I would manage meeting new and different people when I wasn't supposed to shoot some of them. We Yanks could learn some things from the Kiwis, such as being nice to each other, getting enough exercise, and refusing to put up with people who expect to get things they don't earn. |
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Monday Day 1. We arrived in Auckland and took the silver bus to United Campervans to get our motor home. For some reason, we expected them to be open at 5:45 when we arrived, and we forgot that the weather in Auckland was the same as November in Norfolk, so we shivered for a couple of hours until Karol Brooks, the operations manager, arrived and opened up the office early so we could get inside and warm up. She gave us a cup of coffee and helped us check out our Fiat Ducato 2-bed motorhome. This turned out to be a really nice transportation machine! |  |
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We had planned to spend the day getting de-jetlagged and settled in,
but we spent most of it learning how to drive on the left side of the road...in
downtown Auckland...in traffic...during rush hour...while looking for specific
buildings. It was the most fun I've had since Vietnam!
Over one-fourth of the New Zealanders live in Auckland, which is why they have traffic lights there. Their city blocks are irregular polygons, which makes navigating fun! The drivers in Auckland were very understanding about my Yankee driving. A couple of them were nice enough to put their hands out and give me half a peace sign! |
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Neither of us knows who this fellow is, because he didn't seem to speak
English. Stefanie dropped a shopping bag, and he stopped to help
her pick up the stuff, so she wanted a picture to remember him. Here it
is. She liked the little yellow car, too.
Downtown Auckland is pretty congested, so you park to let the other people get by. Sometimes that takes some ingenuity. |
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Click here to go to our |
At this point you have a choice. While Stefanie (who is not nearly the "ringnut" that I am) was taking pictures for her vacation scrapbook of all the wonderful and interesting places we visited, and all the cute animals we encountered, I was snapping photos of places in Middle Earth and the locations where the scenes were actually photographed in the "Lord of the Rings" films. So you can go either way at this point. You can either continue with pictures and commentary of the second day of our vacation in New Zealand, or you can take an imaginary journey with us to the land of Middle Earth. Many of the photos we took are of the sites actually used in the films. Others correspond to the descriptions and maps in "The Journeys of Frodo" by Barbara Strachey. You can use them to follow the adventures of the Fellowship of the Ring. | Click here to continue |
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