CHRISTCHURCH – EDORAS (Mt. Sunday) – GERALDINE – LAKE TEKAPO/PUKAKI – TWIZEL, 15 May 2024
If Trollshaws was an indicator of what it felt like to see a standard (by Aotearoan standards, so read: breathtaking) outdoor locale turned into a part of Middle-Earth, then today was going to top most people’s favourite places.
Edoras. Capital of Rohan.
Home of King Théoden, Éowyn and her brother, Éomer.
We set out from somewhere geographically adjacent to Christchurch and/or Christchurch Airport and headed out toward the mountains and toward, specifically, the protected land that Mt. Sunday sits on.
Suddenly, while watching the Return of the King (extended, at last), we dropped into a single durt track and chugged along in our coach into a huge valley. The sun was beating down less on the green grass that we were used to, and instead, we saw sweeping yellow plains. THE plains (some at least, Rohan is also in and around Queenstown)! You could see, in your mind, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli chasing the Uruk-Hai to rescue Merry and Pippin across the hilltops.
Then suddenly, amidst beautiful snow-capped mountains, we saw it. Alone in the middle of a valley.
Trollshaws…eat your heart out!
The coach had to park a fair way away from Mt. Sunday as there is a public path to the base, but not the summit… unless you’re with Red Carpet Tours.
So, we off we trekked, prop weapons in hand, across a gravel path through thorny bushes and over a pebble filled stream (which someone thought a great idea to walk through… turns out waterproof boots aren’t waterproof if the water goes inside…) until we passed through the large gate labelled ‘PRIVATE AND PROTECTED’. Then we began the hike, stopping first at the site of the burial mounds where Théoden buries his son, Théodred. Here, Josh led a beautiful moment of silence for Bernard Hill and played Éowyn’s funeral song (sang by Mirando Otto in The Two Towers).
After that, we ventured to the foot of where the main gates stood. For those not in the know (nerdy), Edoras couldn’t be built as a facade set. It just wasn’t feasible. So, Wētā built the entire city, houses, and mainly, the Golden Hall of Meduseld as an entirely sound wooden hall and shot all the scenes contained within it there, both interior and exterior. Then, as per their orders, they removed every last shred of evidence and left the hill preserved. Almost… more on that in a moment. But, in short, Edoras is a feat of movie magic and production design!
So, with one last steep hike, we made it to where the stairs to the Golden Hall once stood. Then passing to the left of the summit, we found the burial mound of the farmer’s favourite dog (which the film crew had to build around and on top of out of respect) and then… mountains, Gandalf.
It’s very hard to describe or even encapsulate in a photo the sheer majesty of it all. The best advice I have is to take that famous aerial shot of Éowyn standing on the stairs of Meduseld looking out, and you’ve got it. It really is that deep, wide, and vast as a valley, and the mountains really look like that. It’s incredible. Truly.
We took a few group shots here. The girls (due to the dress size) got the dress as Éowyn in said outfit looking out, and everyone could hold the banner of the Rohirrim high. Along with a great full group shot, flag waving!
The coolest moment, though, was easily Joseph looking at the rocks and coming up to McKenzie and I to tell us that, with Jon, he had found a screw pit embedded in a rock. Jon has also found a deep scaffold scar cut into the same rock. It was very clear we were looking at some original fitting for the building of Meduseld and Edoras.
Incredible.
As we made our way back in various groups, some left early and looked like distant ants to those of us who loved being up there, our guide Josh, Jon and I gushed about our love for various video games and blasted several theme tunes loudly with our phones as we carried axes and swords on our backs.
Once back, we made our way further south to Geraldine, watching ROTK as we went. McKenzie, Joseph, and I wandered around after visiting the much celebrated ice cream and cheese shop there (I got a Berry sorbet and a Pear and Feijoa sorbet and it was AMAZING. Feijoa’s aren’t anywhere in the UK (or EU really), and that’s disgusting).
Now, here is where we reach the point in the tale where I felt easily at my most guilty, Reader. We went into a lovely looking bookshop, all three of us very keen readers (despite me not reading yet on this trip), McKenzie was right behind Joseph and I as we pondered the fiction shelves… when we turned around, she’d gone. She’d just disappeared, and so, naturally, we assumed she’d gone to another shop, and so we wandered…
Didn’t think to check for a back room, did we? No, my little impatients, no, we did not.
Mortified.
As we meandered our way to Twizel, our hotel for the evening, we made stops along the way by Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, which were both stunning. Jon and I planned on finding them on the way back.
McKenzie and I spent the final section of ROTK in a back and forth message, thread ripping into Frodo, and how Sam was the hero. Which is true. It was the best way to speed up a long final stretch, and some of the jokes we made had me laughing loudly at the back. Whoops.
We arrived at Twizel just as the trilogy came to its beautiful conclusion and stepped into… The Overlook Hotel. I mean, damn. It was a time machine, with 1970s furnishings and just an overall vibe that was less welcome, and more, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
After a buffet dinner that matched the same vibe as above, although Jon and I shared some lovely chats with Rhonda and Glynn, two lovely people from our tour, about their adventures, I met the gang (plus a fellow future bungy jumper, Maya) without Jon who was cold after stepping out in a winter night with just a t-shirt, to see “the lights”… only to see maybe 6 stars, and one was most likely a plane. It was the company that counted, though, as always.
A full day. A long day.
But, one of the greatest days so far.
– Jake,
20 May 2024
The Long Expected Journey 