Home » New Zealand » Seeing Rohan by Air November 22, 2004

Glenorchy Air's van picked us up at 2pm and took us to the Queenstown Airport on New Zealand's South Island. There, we boarded a six-seater plane for the Two-Ring Trilogy Tour, along with a few other sightseers. Our pilot, Steve, was also our guide.

Seeing Rohan by Air November 22, 2004

Ttrealtravels
2005-12-26 15:33:30

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Merry and Pippin and where one hobbit purposefully dropped his Elven brooch. Then in the same canyon, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli ran through and found the brooch. This was also where Gimli fell -- "we dwarves are wasted on long distances!" Steve pointed out that the Fellowship ran through the canyon once each way, and some of the footage was pieced together to make the canyon seem longer.

We spent two hours on the ground in the Poolburn area where we saw the sites where Rohan was filmed. Suffice it to say that the landscape was once again wonderful to ogle at, and the specific areas were remarkably recognizable as compared to the film.

At one of the places, there was actually a little bit of burned-out sets left, which was a pleasant surprise. Like every other of the 150 film sites in New Zealand, the film company was supposed to entirely dismantle everything and leave the sites in their natural states. Poolburn was one of the extremely few where some remnants were left.

We trekked around the hills, through strong winds, and to the Poolburn Reservoir. At one edge was the sight of the Rohan village that was pillaged and burned by Saruman's orcs. A few burnt fence posts and a stray door still remained from the set. Even without these remnants, we could clearly see where the village once lay. I could imagine the Rohan mother placing her two children on a horse and telling them to ride to Edoras. The windswept rocks by the lake perfectly evoked the land of horsemen described by Tolkien and filmed by Jackson.

This remote site could possibly be reached by car -- if you had a very good map or a guide who knew where to go. But it was much easier and more scenic to go by plane. The flight also gave great views of the landscape.

The flight brought to mind all the sweeping aerial views of New Zealand used in the Lord of the Rings movies. I can't say it enough -- this is a truly gorgeous country, and Peter Jackson really did it justice. Even if you visit because of Lord of the Rings, you can't help but adore the land's beauty for itself.