Home » New Zealand » Exploring the Elven Forest and More November 16, 2004

The day's itinerary was to find a number of Lord of the Rings film locations within an hour's drive of Wellington. Very convenient for the filmmakers, no doubt, but still tricky for us to find without our own location scout.
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Exploring the Elven Forest and More November 16, 2004

Ttrealtravels
2005-12-26 15:50:23

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a babbling river nearby definitely evoked the spirit of Imladris, Elrond, and Arwen. The meadow was even sprinkled with tiny white and golden flowers like Tolkien's delicate Elanor and Nephridil blooms. The set for Frodo's Rivendell bedroom was built here, and the place did have a magically healing aura. We heard nothing but birds, the river, and trees softly dripping from the recent rains. Everything around us was fresh and green with life and spirit.

I've always been fondest of Tolkien's elves above all his creations. Wizards have obvious magic, but elves exude a special power. They're immortal and wise, everything they touch becomes beautiful. Yet unlike fairy creatures, they're grounded in the earth and trees. They speak like the deep forces in the earth, subtle, powerful, and awesome. I want to be an elf! Walking in Rivendell is as close as I may get.

Even if you're not a big Lord of the Rings fan, Kaitoke Park is full of treasures and worth a visit. On the other side of the car park from Rivendell was a swing bridge into the rainforest. We had a grand time tramping through the vegetation and poking around the fork of the two rivers. If we'd had more time, we'd have explored more of the marks many trails and bushwalks.

Coming back from Kaitoke, we went to find Isengard Gardens. Maybe 10km south of Kaitoke is Akatarawa Road. Don't be fooled by the Akatarawa Branch sign. Head to the Akatarawa Road. Turn right and go one or two kilometers to the small Harcourt Park on the left. From this first car park, walk to the right on a curvy path and go straight and left-ish. You'll come out of the bushes to a park bench at the top of a hill. Below is a wide grassy area where several scenes of Saruman's fortress were filmed.

You may see a faint track in the grass almost parallel to the hilltop and bench. The path goes in front of a shortish tree with a thick, multiple-strand trunk. Gandalf rode past this tree on a gravel path between chain-and-post fences. The path and fences were added for the film and immediately removed after, but the tree is quite recognizable.

If you go down to the meadow and stand near the gravel path on the left, you can see the film angle used for the massive tree destruction when Saruman began to build his army of orcs. On the meadow, the film crew created a giant, realistic tree that was hinged at the base so it could be "chopped" down several times by orcs.

Finding the spot where Gandalf and Saruman strolled and consulted about the Ring early in the first movie was harder. Several trees looked similar to those in the scenes, but they weren't grouped together. Still, it was easy to imagine this immaculate garden as the setting of the wizards' powwow.