My Journey through Middle-Earth - Part 2
Mar. 31st, 2013 09:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tari_rooPart 1 is here,
I left Rotorua on the 10th Feb with a keen desire to seek out fresh air and fannish things. Hobbiton had truly whet my appetite for things LOTRish (far more than the Waitomo caves) and I clambered around an Inter-city bus for the almost day long drive to Wellington. We passed Lake Te Pau, the largest lake in NZ, which was formed as a result of a volcanic eruption (I began to ask myself what on North Island is not 'as a result of volcanic activity).
I put in my ear phones and listened to a playlist of my favourite tracks from LOTR and the Hobbit, humming along to myself and not doubt worrying the passenger next to me. I did note with amusement as I watched the kiwi countryside pass that New Zealand farmers must have Ent troubles. Quite a number of small, isolated trees in fields had been fenced so that they stood all on their own, surrounded by wide green fields (and/or sheep/cows). There must have been a great Ent migration at some point which deforested the area and in order to keep the trees that remained, the farmers had fenced them off.
The bus ride itself was umremarkable bar my entish thoughts and we arrived in Wellington without fanfare or drama. To my delight, the late afternoon, early evening in Wellington was utterly perfect! The sun was just sinking over the horizon (over Wellington proper) as the shuttle dropped me off at my hotel in Oriental Bay (a gorgeous suburb). I have not been to San Fransico but Wellington reminds me of that West Coast town with its hills, twisty streets, houses built up on to said hills. I stayed on the eighth floor of my hotel and had houses on the same level with me.
More than eager to go explore the perfect evening, my trusty camera and I headed off to 'see' Wellington. In fairness, I probably only 'saw' Oriental Bay and the surrounding areas but it impressed me immensly. The bay around which Wellington is built was afire in the sunset, the sun glinting off the water and dozens of people out and about enjoying the gorgeous evening. Oriental Bay has a lovely pedestrian walk way around the Bay, with a small, narrow sandy beach lapped by the calm (cold I imagine) waters. Between the tall trees, picturesque homes and buildings of Mt Victoria, the sunset, the harbour, the water and the calm, satisfied feeling of the area, I was utterly enchanted. I declared myself a fan and determined then and there to live in Wellington!
Alas, the next day, the more usual weather of the area - cold, cloudy rain, disabused me of that romantic notion ;-). But it was Monday, my birthday and I was going on a tour of the sites and scenes of LOTR which included a trip to Weta. Paul, the tour guide for the trip picked me up early-ish and once all parties had been collected, he happily declared us a fellowship! And a fellowship we were indeed. On the tour with me were four Singaporeans - instantly dubbed the hobbits of our party (due to their height). Two australians (whose names I forget), James an Englishman from Nottingham, me and Paul the driver. In my mind, I allocated myself the role of Legolas ... because I was taller than the Australian lass, who therefore became Gimli. Australian dude, James and Paul took then then the roles of Boromir, Aragorn and Gandalf respectively. Alas, James/Aragorn did not live up to Viggo's hotness :-( but he was pretty funny.
The first site/sight Paul took us to was on Mt Victoria, to a park where the first scene of the film was shot. This is not the 'chronilogical' first scene... but the first scene PJ shot for the film, when the hobbits are running from Farmer Maggot and the Dark Rider arrives. I still find it bemusing that film and tv makers do not shoot in sequence but make movies/tv shows in a shooting order/sequence that suits a variety of needs and schedules. The weather was still cold when we arrived at the spot where the following took place: the hobbits fell down the hill/cliff as fleeing from Farmer Maggot, they found mushrooms, Frodo says 'Get off the Road!' and they hide from the Ring Wraith. Naturally the forest has changed slightly in the years since the filming but we could still 'see' the various scenes and it helped that Paul had screen shot from the various moments in question. (see below).
However, let me break here for a small interlude in the mind of Roo. At each of the scenes (Mt Victoria was the first naturally) Paul as a good guide offered to help us pose for our own poses as hobbits looking for mushrooms, getting off the road... etc. As he offered this my brain went: O.o *stalling, stalling.... er.... awkward!* O.o
In a room of people I will quite happily stick my hand up if they asked for a poll of LOTR fans. I however have absolutely NO desire to insert myself into the film, pretend to be a hobbit/elf/ranger, and/or have photographic evidence of such. Alas, I was the only one with such immediate reservations as everyone else quite happily lept forward with a 'Yay!' and posed, leaving me very much with an internal O.o awkward expression. Once back on the bus I recovered sufficiently to explore this gut reaction and came up with this rationale - I don't read fanfic with OFCs as a rule. I don't write OFCs or even OMCs as central characters who interact with OCs. I write/read fanfic to explore the canon characters only. My experience and enjoyment of a fandom is limited to an outside viewpoint as it were - I don't want to be 'in' the book/show/movie. I had a bad feeling that 'Get off the Road' was not going to be the only time Paul offered/wanted us to get into the spirit of it all and 'be' in the movie.
And I was right. Paul took us to the scene where the hobbits run for the Buckleberry Ferry and we have the iconic image of the Nazgul on the hill, silohuetted and creepy. Me - I was happy snapping away at the locale but Paul and the rest of our nerdish fellowship were happily recreating a nazgul and horse. O.o
Here's the thing... I tend to be very soft hearted and accomodating when I feel sorry for folk and I was feeling sorry for Paul. He was 'Very Keen' about this fannish posing and seemed dismayed at my reluctance... so I caved and posed twice. *dances around in a circle in anxious twitchery*
Anyhoo, lets move off the awkwardness of me pretending to be a hobbit... Paul drove to the various Weta studios, most of which we can't go into (what with being working studios) and I was very impressed at how much business and growth PJ has brought to Wellington. We did stop at the Weta Cave, which is the studio's public/retail space. I had made a mental note to buy one of two things if the price was not too dear: a One Ring or Arwen's necklace (as worn by Aragorn). Alas, the One Ring at Weta Cave was WAY too expensive (no Arwen necklace) but I had a lot of fun walking around looking at the various set items and over priced figurines/swords/ears/feet and t-shirts in the store. I had either forgotten or not paid attention to the sucess of Weta over the years - they have been involved in a LOT of movies subsequent to LOTR. Naturally the shop had a lot of hobbit related merchandise. I... the frugal scot that I am... did not buy anything.
Paul aka Gandalf the Fan drove us to the site of the village of Bree. Fortunately for the lack of posing options, the area, which had once been a US Army barracks is now a school and nothing remains of Bree, bar Paul driving fans there and telling them all about it. Alas, we had a minor delay in our trip to stalk PJ, when the van got a flat tyre and Paul and the hobbits changed the tyre. Once on the road again, Paul drove us to the neighbourhood were PJ lives and showed us his house. Naturally our (ok, my) inner paparazzi hoped for a PJ-at home shot but alas, the great man was not home. We stopped for a LOTR themed lunch (which I struggled not to roll my eyes at, I fear the inner-cynic was gaining strength) and I chatted to James from Nottingham while I ate my Frodo friatta.
James, an elementary/primary school teacher was in NZ for a wedding and had decided he couldn't leave NZ without 'some' LOTR sight seeing. This I heartedly approved of. Alas though, conversation around the lunch table rapidly revealed that (aside from uber-fan Paul) I was the most knowledgable fan. This... was not a moment of pride, oh no. It was rather one of dismay for little old me. Gimli, the female australian, hadn't even seen the Hobbit yet as she was going to wait for all three movies on DVD. O.o And she did not want to be spoiled for Hobbit-related things. The hobbits from Singapore had seen the movie maybe once, and James and Aussie guy were fairly conversant fans.... but most of them were not 'online' fans. My 'One does not simply walk in Mordor' meme jokes fell flat when I tried to find some common fan-ground. My Tumblr references went over their heads and James told me he still wanted to see the Extended Editions. I stopped there, not even daring to mention fanfic and crossovers, feeling weird for feeling snobbish in my uberfan-ness. But, also, come on, I had travelling half way around the world to see the sets of a movie - uber fan I was. I had not just decided to 'tack' on a LOTR aspect to my trip - I was there for LOTR. Alas, my continued experience of fandom in RL remains disappointing. To date, only my RL friend C has matched (and exceeded) my fannish delights.
After lunch, and my disappointing realisations, Paul took us to the River Anduin (one of the five rivers that featured as the River Anduin), the quarry where a lot of the Minias Tirith and Helm's Deep sets were built and the park where the Gardens of Isengard where filmed. Alas, for most of us fans, eveything of the movie in this locales is gone, and we had to crowd around Paul to see the pictures of the movie, compared to the area. It was interesting to say the least. The scope of what was involved in making the movie is quite something.
Last and certainly, not least, Paul took us to Rivendell! *cue the music*. Here's a fun fact - New Line cinema own the copyright to all the names and LOTR related things, which is why none of the sets around Wellington have signs proclaiming 'Here is Bree' or 'Frodo stood here'. If they wanted to put up signs etc, they would have to pay New Line Cinema royalities. I thought this was a bit of a cheek, as surely the Tolkien family own the rights to Tolkien's characters, but I suppose whatever deal the family and New Line Cinema made around the movie/book, everyone is getting rich somehow. Nonetheless, Rivendell (aside from Hobbiton who do pay royalities) is the only exception to this. Why? Quite simply, Rivendell (if you didn't know) was shot in a nature reserve, a regional park and the park rangers *snorts* put up signs clearly indicating where Rivendell was. Why? Because people were getting lost trying to 'find' Rivendell. *snorts again* When New Line contacted them demanding either payment or that they take the signs down, the park rangers calmly said they were take the signs down, if New Line were prepared to pay for all the search and rescues, and helicopters to find lost fans. New Line backed off. *giggles*
So - Rivendell is an actual place! *points*
The park is beautiful and personally, if I had own the place *eyes out the NZ Govt* I would have kept the set in place, but nonetheless nothing remains of the sets, bar the trees. We all listend to Paul and I took pictures of trees, as he told us all about the sets and activities. And then... yep, you guessed it - time to pose for our 'elvish' pictures. Only this time... he had props. O.o Elf ears and Sting.
By now I had vetoed every single 'insert self' photo opportunity and my inner 'gentle' soul was cringing at Paul's pained enthusiasm. I know, I know... stop being a wuss and just get it the spirit of it, right? So I did. Yep, there are pictures of me dressed as an elf, holding Sting in a pouncy pose. *rolls eyes*. No, I am not posting those. And stop giggling!
Anyhoo, we spent more time in the area, as its a beautiful park and I crossed a bridge straight out of every single MacGyver episode filmed in the forests of Vancouver, and had a lovely time taking pictures of Ents aka Trees. Paul set up a little tea for us and our day ended on a happy note of muffins and drinks. For a birthday, it was pretty awesome.
Paul dropped me off at my hotel, after I had bid the rest of the Fellowship farewell (fortunately all nine of made it through) and I contemplated going to go see the Hobbit but the cinema - the one where the premiers had taken place, was only showing it in 3D and I didn't fancy paying an arm and a leg to see it in 3D again (I didn't like it in 3D).
Nonetheless, Wellington is a beautiful city, and I think I could live there for a few months :) ... working at Weta *beams* I flew out from Wellington the next day and who should I see in the airport...
I left Rotorua on the 10th Feb with a keen desire to seek out fresh air and fannish things. Hobbiton had truly whet my appetite for things LOTRish (far more than the Waitomo caves) and I clambered around an Inter-city bus for the almost day long drive to Wellington. We passed Lake Te Pau, the largest lake in NZ, which was formed as a result of a volcanic eruption (I began to ask myself what on North Island is not 'as a result of volcanic activity).
I put in my ear phones and listened to a playlist of my favourite tracks from LOTR and the Hobbit, humming along to myself and not doubt worrying the passenger next to me. I did note with amusement as I watched the kiwi countryside pass that New Zealand farmers must have Ent troubles. Quite a number of small, isolated trees in fields had been fenced so that they stood all on their own, surrounded by wide green fields (and/or sheep/cows). There must have been a great Ent migration at some point which deforested the area and in order to keep the trees that remained, the farmers had fenced them off.
The bus ride itself was umremarkable bar my entish thoughts and we arrived in Wellington without fanfare or drama. To my delight, the late afternoon, early evening in Wellington was utterly perfect! The sun was just sinking over the horizon (over Wellington proper) as the shuttle dropped me off at my hotel in Oriental Bay (a gorgeous suburb). I have not been to San Fransico but Wellington reminds me of that West Coast town with its hills, twisty streets, houses built up on to said hills. I stayed on the eighth floor of my hotel and had houses on the same level with me.
More than eager to go explore the perfect evening, my trusty camera and I headed off to 'see' Wellington. In fairness, I probably only 'saw' Oriental Bay and the surrounding areas but it impressed me immensly. The bay around which Wellington is built was afire in the sunset, the sun glinting off the water and dozens of people out and about enjoying the gorgeous evening. Oriental Bay has a lovely pedestrian walk way around the Bay, with a small, narrow sandy beach lapped by the calm (cold I imagine) waters. Between the tall trees, picturesque homes and buildings of Mt Victoria, the sunset, the harbour, the water and the calm, satisfied feeling of the area, I was utterly enchanted. I declared myself a fan and determined then and there to live in Wellington!
Alas, the next day, the more usual weather of the area - cold, cloudy rain, disabused me of that romantic notion ;-). But it was Monday, my birthday and I was going on a tour of the sites and scenes of LOTR which included a trip to Weta. Paul, the tour guide for the trip picked me up early-ish and once all parties had been collected, he happily declared us a fellowship! And a fellowship we were indeed. On the tour with me were four Singaporeans - instantly dubbed the hobbits of our party (due to their height). Two australians (whose names I forget), James an Englishman from Nottingham, me and Paul the driver. In my mind, I allocated myself the role of Legolas ... because I was taller than the Australian lass, who therefore became Gimli. Australian dude, James and Paul took then then the roles of Boromir, Aragorn and Gandalf respectively. Alas, James/Aragorn did not live up to Viggo's hotness :-( but he was pretty funny.
The first site/sight Paul took us to was on Mt Victoria, to a park where the first scene of the film was shot. This is not the 'chronilogical' first scene... but the first scene PJ shot for the film, when the hobbits are running from Farmer Maggot and the Dark Rider arrives. I still find it bemusing that film and tv makers do not shoot in sequence but make movies/tv shows in a shooting order/sequence that suits a variety of needs and schedules. The weather was still cold when we arrived at the spot where the following took place: the hobbits fell down the hill/cliff as fleeing from Farmer Maggot, they found mushrooms, Frodo says 'Get off the Road!' and they hide from the Ring Wraith. Naturally the forest has changed slightly in the years since the filming but we could still 'see' the various scenes and it helped that Paul had screen shot from the various moments in question. (see below).
However, let me break here for a small interlude in the mind of Roo. At each of the scenes (Mt Victoria was the first naturally) Paul as a good guide offered to help us pose for our own poses as hobbits looking for mushrooms, getting off the road... etc. As he offered this my brain went: O.o *stalling, stalling.... er.... awkward!* O.o
In a room of people I will quite happily stick my hand up if they asked for a poll of LOTR fans. I however have absolutely NO desire to insert myself into the film, pretend to be a hobbit/elf/ranger, and/or have photographic evidence of such. Alas, I was the only one with such immediate reservations as everyone else quite happily lept forward with a 'Yay!' and posed, leaving me very much with an internal O.o awkward expression. Once back on the bus I recovered sufficiently to explore this gut reaction and came up with this rationale - I don't read fanfic with OFCs as a rule. I don't write OFCs or even OMCs as central characters who interact with OCs. I write/read fanfic to explore the canon characters only. My experience and enjoyment of a fandom is limited to an outside viewpoint as it were - I don't want to be 'in' the book/show/movie. I had a bad feeling that 'Get off the Road' was not going to be the only time Paul offered/wanted us to get into the spirit of it all and 'be' in the movie.
And I was right. Paul took us to the scene where the hobbits run for the Buckleberry Ferry and we have the iconic image of the Nazgul on the hill, silohuetted and creepy. Me - I was happy snapping away at the locale but Paul and the rest of our nerdish fellowship were happily recreating a nazgul and horse. O.o
Here's the thing... I tend to be very soft hearted and accomodating when I feel sorry for folk and I was feeling sorry for Paul. He was 'Very Keen' about this fannish posing and seemed dismayed at my reluctance... so I caved and posed twice. *dances around in a circle in anxious twitchery*
Anyhoo, lets move off the awkwardness of me pretending to be a hobbit... Paul drove to the various Weta studios, most of which we can't go into (what with being working studios) and I was very impressed at how much business and growth PJ has brought to Wellington. We did stop at the Weta Cave, which is the studio's public/retail space. I had made a mental note to buy one of two things if the price was not too dear: a One Ring or Arwen's necklace (as worn by Aragorn). Alas, the One Ring at Weta Cave was WAY too expensive (no Arwen necklace) but I had a lot of fun walking around looking at the various set items and over priced figurines/swords/ears/feet and t-shirts in the store. I had either forgotten or not paid attention to the sucess of Weta over the years - they have been involved in a LOT of movies subsequent to LOTR. Naturally the shop had a lot of hobbit related merchandise. I... the frugal scot that I am... did not buy anything.
Paul aka Gandalf the Fan drove us to the site of the village of Bree. Fortunately for the lack of posing options, the area, which had once been a US Army barracks is now a school and nothing remains of Bree, bar Paul driving fans there and telling them all about it. Alas, we had a minor delay in our trip to stalk PJ, when the van got a flat tyre and Paul and the hobbits changed the tyre. Once on the road again, Paul drove us to the neighbourhood were PJ lives and showed us his house. Naturally our (ok, my) inner paparazzi hoped for a PJ-at home shot but alas, the great man was not home. We stopped for a LOTR themed lunch (which I struggled not to roll my eyes at, I fear the inner-cynic was gaining strength) and I chatted to James from Nottingham while I ate my Frodo friatta.
James, an elementary/primary school teacher was in NZ for a wedding and had decided he couldn't leave NZ without 'some' LOTR sight seeing. This I heartedly approved of. Alas though, conversation around the lunch table rapidly revealed that (aside from uber-fan Paul) I was the most knowledgable fan. This... was not a moment of pride, oh no. It was rather one of dismay for little old me. Gimli, the female australian, hadn't even seen the Hobbit yet as she was going to wait for all three movies on DVD. O.o And she did not want to be spoiled for Hobbit-related things. The hobbits from Singapore had seen the movie maybe once, and James and Aussie guy were fairly conversant fans.... but most of them were not 'online' fans. My 'One does not simply walk in Mordor' meme jokes fell flat when I tried to find some common fan-ground. My Tumblr references went over their heads and James told me he still wanted to see the Extended Editions. I stopped there, not even daring to mention fanfic and crossovers, feeling weird for feeling snobbish in my uberfan-ness. But, also, come on, I had travelling half way around the world to see the sets of a movie - uber fan I was. I had not just decided to 'tack' on a LOTR aspect to my trip - I was there for LOTR. Alas, my continued experience of fandom in RL remains disappointing. To date, only my RL friend C has matched (and exceeded) my fannish delights.
After lunch, and my disappointing realisations, Paul took us to the River Anduin (one of the five rivers that featured as the River Anduin), the quarry where a lot of the Minias Tirith and Helm's Deep sets were built and the park where the Gardens of Isengard where filmed. Alas, for most of us fans, eveything of the movie in this locales is gone, and we had to crowd around Paul to see the pictures of the movie, compared to the area. It was interesting to say the least. The scope of what was involved in making the movie is quite something.
Last and certainly, not least, Paul took us to Rivendell! *cue the music*. Here's a fun fact - New Line cinema own the copyright to all the names and LOTR related things, which is why none of the sets around Wellington have signs proclaiming 'Here is Bree' or 'Frodo stood here'. If they wanted to put up signs etc, they would have to pay New Line Cinema royalities. I thought this was a bit of a cheek, as surely the Tolkien family own the rights to Tolkien's characters, but I suppose whatever deal the family and New Line Cinema made around the movie/book, everyone is getting rich somehow. Nonetheless, Rivendell (aside from Hobbiton who do pay royalities) is the only exception to this. Why? Quite simply, Rivendell (if you didn't know) was shot in a nature reserve, a regional park and the park rangers *snorts* put up signs clearly indicating where Rivendell was. Why? Because people were getting lost trying to 'find' Rivendell. *snorts again* When New Line contacted them demanding either payment or that they take the signs down, the park rangers calmly said they were take the signs down, if New Line were prepared to pay for all the search and rescues, and helicopters to find lost fans. New Line backed off. *giggles*
So - Rivendell is an actual place! *points*
The park is beautiful and personally, if I had own the place *eyes out the NZ Govt* I would have kept the set in place, but nonetheless nothing remains of the sets, bar the trees. We all listend to Paul and I took pictures of trees, as he told us all about the sets and activities. And then... yep, you guessed it - time to pose for our 'elvish' pictures. Only this time... he had props. O.o Elf ears and Sting.
By now I had vetoed every single 'insert self' photo opportunity and my inner 'gentle' soul was cringing at Paul's pained enthusiasm. I know, I know... stop being a wuss and just get it the spirit of it, right? So I did. Yep, there are pictures of me dressed as an elf, holding Sting in a pouncy pose. *rolls eyes*. No, I am not posting those. And stop giggling!
Anyhoo, we spent more time in the area, as its a beautiful park and I crossed a bridge straight out of every single MacGyver episode filmed in the forests of Vancouver, and had a lovely time taking pictures of Ents aka Trees. Paul set up a little tea for us and our day ended on a happy note of muffins and drinks. For a birthday, it was pretty awesome.
Paul dropped me off at my hotel, after I had bid the rest of the Fellowship farewell (fortunately all nine of made it through) and I contemplated going to go see the Hobbit but the cinema - the one where the premiers had taken place, was only showing it in 3D and I didn't fancy paying an arm and a leg to see it in 3D again (I didn't like it in 3D).
Nonetheless, Wellington is a beautiful city, and I think I could live there for a few months :) ... working at Weta *beams* I flew out from Wellington the next day and who should I see in the airport...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-03-31 07:53 pm (UTC)I had to laugh out loud with the Rivendell thing. *giggles* *pets pour park rangers*
Oi, I wouldn't have posed either. I'd love to see this places but posing in them? Nöp. Not with me. ;)
Wellington is beautiful!
Thank you for sharing this with us! :)
no subject
Date: 2013-04-01 12:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-31 09:02 pm (UTC)I would have been cringing at the posed photos too. ;)
no subject
Date: 2013-04-01 12:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-31 11:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-04-01 12:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-04-02 12:46 pm (UTC)*ponders her own vacation*
no subject
Date: 2013-04-01 06:31 pm (UTC)I usually keep some sort of notebook/diary when I go on a trip, but it generally winds up being notes about the weather and quick jots about what I've seen, but you really bring your vacation to life! Thanks for sharing! :)
no subject
Date: 2013-04-02 05:44 am (UTC)