Ultimate Movie Tour with Wellington Movie Tours

Posted by Aisha- Travel Manager of Downtown Backpackers. on 11 June 2012 | 0 Comments

Tags: Wellywood, LOTR, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, movies

My colleague Kate and I had the privilege of doing an Ultimate movie tour last Saturday with Ted from Wellington Movie Tours. Now when it says Ultimate it means ultimate! With over 30 locations and travelling all around Wellington it was an action packed day.  Here is a taste of our experience…

Ted sure knows how to amuse on long journeys with funny stories and clips from the Lord of the Rings movies. This also gives you a great idea of what the locations looked like before, during and after filming.

We started the day at 10am, with our first location being Helms Deep/ Minas Tirith (Hutt Valley in Dry Creek Quarry).  Let the geeky fun begin.
We then headed out to Sarumans gardens in Isengard (Harcourt Park, Hutt Valley)  

 

Ted is very thorough in his tours and while on location holds up the scenes printed out, plays clips and points out certain trees that were in shot, or mountains and banks.

We were encouraged to get into the spirit of things with props and costumes. Being an LOTR nerd myself I jumped at the chance to dress up and act like a hobbit and various rings characters.
You can’t tell so much in this photo but I’m Saruman and Kate is Gandalf! And yes this is exactly where they walked in the film - exciting!

 

Kate did a fabulous job of being my horse (for the first time)“Aragorn Washed ashore” scene in Hutt Valley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the photos below we a Rivendell scene comparison and the river part where Faramir found Boromirs body.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rivendell was a great time, as you can see  Kate and I were channelling Legolas here.  Same tree, same stump I wish I could say the same hair!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WOW IT’S FRODO AND SAM! (complete with food in a fry pan now that’s what I call props!)
As you can see during our tour Ted is very encouraging of people to get into the spirit of things! It’s great when you have a bunch of people who are as nerdy as you.

Kate as my horse again, me being a Ring Wraith and our group getting into it with being hobbits, I adore their facials.

You can’t quite tell but the hobbit on the far right has BIG (fake) spider on her.


 

 

Why if it isn’t Merry, Pippin, Sam and Frodo? Nearly landed in the cow pat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
This is a Ring Wraith. Yet again my apologies for the shoddy camera, it looked more like a horse with a better lens. Kate stars as a horse again!

Along with two others and I must say I was very impressed and yes this is exactly where the Ring Wraith stood in the first film, you LOTR nerds know what I’m talking about!

 

Overall the Ultimate Movie Tour with Wellington Movie Tours was a fantastic day. It was deliciously satisfying for my nerdy half and it’s a great way to see beautiful New Zealand scenery. Even if you are not a huge LOTR fan it is a wonderful way to get out of the City for a bit and into some nature.
If you are interested in booking a Lord of the Rings tour don’t hesitate! See Travel desk or Reception for details. You have options of an afternoon tour, half day or full day (which is the Ultimate tour).