Recognize the following site from a pretty dang famous movie trilogy? You might if you’re a big "LOTR fan!"
On the way to Rohan’s capital, Edoras! (What's Edoras you ask?)...
What, where?
I grew up as a young, inquisitive girl who had an imagination that could travel much farther than others could ever dream of. That is why when I was only about 7 or 8 years old, my favorite cousin gifted me four books that I would go on to cherish for my whole life.
In those books were a completely new reality, far away from the one I was currently living. With intricacies that gave my stories a run for their money. The man behind these words and this beautiful escape between the pages, was none only than J.R. Tolkien.
When I was little I would fantasize about my own world where mystical creatures were commonplace and I had my own language to speak but Tolkien went further than dreaming it, he created it so that Sir Peter Jackson could take his writing and make it into one of the most successful franchises of all time.
Are you with me yet? I’m talking about LORD OF THE RINGS!
See, New Zealand was Peter Jackson’s playground when filming the trilogy as well as the Hobbit series following so along the roads there are many opportunities to see the real life action shots where the magic was made.
I decided to take off on a mission to see as many of these sites as I could and when I was here the first time, I crossed many off of the list. So this time I wanted to make sure I followed suite, starting with a small trek up a mountain in the distance, instantly recognizable with an incredible view.
Are you all ready to see Edoras?
On the way from the car park, there's gravel roads which are incredibly un-LOTR like bringing you into the privately owned property but beyond the gate that marks the property line begins the incredible journey ahead.
I am a water-lover, I love water features as I am sure you can guess so I went straight for the crystal clear blue waters (to cool off in... I mean bathe) ;)
I snapped a shot of this sign: Kings of Middle Earth
Getting to the top was what it originally was all about but oh my goodness just everything about it was breathtaking! The scenery was incredible with a vibrant blue lake and flowers decorating the landscape far and wide! I could have stayed there forever... I wish I could move into Edoras yesterday!
At one point I was running up the hill away from the orcs because I am that cool and as I was screaming “the orcs are coming!” the cows in the distance began to moo, startling me for a moment as the familiar noise echoed in the distance and ended up being quite eerie bouncing off the rocks. I wonder if they even needed sound effects on set when they had such natural accommodation around!
When you get there your jaw falls onto the ground.
The signs say this trek will take you 45 mins, that might be true if you don’t have a Go Pro, drone and obsession with natural beauty like I do... I mean what are people doing? First of all you’ve got to drive pretty far out of the way to get there, then you have to hike a pretty steep hill, so what are they doing then? Just saying ”OK, that was fun, bye-bye now”? I don’t know where they come up with these numbers but I was up there for a good hour and a half and that isn’t including up and down. ;)
I also have some epic shots of it all though so I would say it was worth every minute and absolutely worth the turn off, fan or not!
Hope you guys liked this journey! I have had such a wild ride the last couple of months while I have been away and there is sooooo much to share! (I took over 5,000 photos so you better stick around!) ;)
Happy New Year Steemians! 2018 is going to rock! (Get it rock, because this was a rock location?) <3
XO,
Epic shots, @heart-to-heart. I had the amazing fortune to travel to NZ a couple of years back, and the first place I went was to see the Hobbit houses! Peter Jackson is a national treasure there in KiwiLand. Enjoy the natural beauty and have a WONDERFUL time!
Oh Hobbiton is such a fantastic little place of magic isn't it? I got to go last year for my birthday and just loved it so much they had to kick me out ;)
Thanks for the warm wishes, I am not longer there, I am back in my homebase in Bali but I will be in and out of NZ for the next foreseeable future so I will always have more and more pics to share to reminisce over ;)
Bali..wow! I'll bet it is amazing. If you have not seen them yet in NZ, do check out the forest penguins on the south island. Adorable!!!
I did see them, froze my butt off waiting for them to come out :O I loved them though, so sweet!
Amazing photos @heart-to-heart! Great to see you, and it looks like you enjoyed your trip! I hope you have a wonderful new year in 2018!
Hey @ma1neevent! It's been a awhile! I hope you enjoyed the holidays! How are you doing? Have you been steeming away this whole time? I had quite the incredible trip with many memories to be shared :) I'm happy to be back! <3
It is a life long dream of mine to go to that place where they did the shooting for The Lord Of The Rings. Ever since I watched the first movie :D
If you visit New Zealand you can go to most of the sites they filmed on because it was mostly outdoors and mostly on government land! Some places are private and you need permission but honestly you can go to so many other places it's like being in the movie yourself :)
Such beautiful views and one of my all time fav movies! Awesome you could be there right where they shot some of the filming I bet it was a great adventure
Hey @bitcoinflood! I agree, I love the movies and the books and the story and characters and everything ;) I went on a hunt for a bunch of the sites so I'll keep sharing them with you here :) Happy to have another fan around!
Books do change your life I believe! Great photos @heart-to-heart!
It's nice to know people still know about the books. :)
My son stopped reading for a while after he read those books because he said he couldn't imagine any book being as good!
That is so cool. Tons of good books though. I was never a reader, failed all through school as a child and into early adulthood. I love life, reality and want success for many different reason. All the greatest people read and educate a ton so I do so too and learn from those best people. It is amazing to have peoples life work all in a book. But most importantly it is the most stimulating thing in the world. Better than any party, for me at least. :)
Reading isn't for everyone but for me as a child, my imagination was flowing far too wild and fast for my own small world so I needed an outlet to escape into and explore in ;)
As a writer myself, I can say that it is such an incredible outlet to be able to have your feelings and thoughts read by others. I am happy to hear you're enjoying it more now, it really is another world :)
Very much so, it is like a better movie in a book. :)
Haha honestly, it's a fair assessment. They are really good. The movies now have kind of tainted them, going back and reading them again on this journey. It's hard to see things the same way now with the movies' ideas in mind. Either way though, Tolkien was a genius and he stole my heart for years!
I definitely agree! The more I read the more I want to learn! =D
Clarity, awareness, growth, expansion are all so great qualities to have and I believe we can achieve those all with reading. Plus the more we learn the more we earn. :)
haha love the last bit ;) good thing there is plenty to read on Steemit. I used to spend my entire days on here before I left for my trip... I see that happening in my future again =D
That is exactly what I am doing now but I leave for mine on the 28th!
That's exciting! I am leaving again on the 19th it appears :O Can't sit still! Where are you heading?
That is amazing, travelling is the greatest! I am heading to Guatemala. So no laptop just will but running all my blogging through my phone. You heading somewhere new?
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To, @heart-to-heart
Thanks @steemupvotebot how cool =D
Awesome...
I definitely recommend visiting :)
Beautiful amazing pictures @heart-to-heart
Thanks @ajmalansari! New Zealand is an amazing, beautiful country! I definitely recommend visiting =D
another wonderful shots dear wish you all the best in the new coming year hve fun and keep smilling you have a wonderful one @heart-to-heart
Thank you @yassinof, it's impossible not to smile with all this wonderful nature around =D
yes indeed being between the arms of nature make us smile and give us a great feelings
Nice view
Completely breathtaking! Every moment there was incredible :)
Good jop friend.
Upvote and resteem
Thank you, I am so happy to share this beautiful country with you all here =D PLENTY more where that came from ;)
I am from Indonesia. in Indonesia very many beautiful scenery beautiful
I live in Bali so I know all about how beautiful it is! I love it here :)
i am from aceh .di aceh very comfortable and very peaceful. have you ever been to aceh. .. ??
Not yet but it is on my list :)
yes it is perfect. i wait for you in aceh. .
you are lovely!
You are too kind @diya28 thank you for the compliment! I do love sharing beautiful pictures and stories around here ;)
awesome scenery ! You may also be interested in seeing a post a friend of mine posted a few days ago about his Journey to Middle Earth :) . Hope you don't mind me dropping a link but I think you will find it very relevant and interesting https://steemit.com/travel/@steevc/memories-of-hobbiton . @steevc you may want to check out @heart-to-heart
Hi @steveconnor! I love the off the beaten track LOTR sites because all of the movies were shot in NZ so they are literally everywhere and all so incredible in their own way! Not a problem for sharing something of relevance ;) I actually was at Hobbiton last year for my birthday, it's such a cool spot! Thanks again for sharing =D
Indeed great natural photography always produces amazing works. and it takes the right time and weather and @heart-to-heart to find it
Haha well, I am lucky to find myself in beautiful places quite frequently and if the weather permits it's even better ;) Nature is such a masterpiece, I barely have to do anything but point and press a button =D
oh my God, it is just wow. keep it up. amazing
New Zealand never disappoints, trust me! I just posted another journey I had there, there were many as I was on a non stop campervan adventure haha but definitely more to come! Happy you're enjoying =D
beautiful photo.
It's nature, she's such a model :)
I love nature and i love your travel pics....
Thank you! I love nature too! It's so incredible isn't it? I always try to post as much of my travels as I can! Sometimes I get way too many photos and they get disorganized though! Can never have enough nature <3
So nice pics, thank you for sharing! =)
I love sharing these lovely places with you! It is no problem at all! I posted another of a beautiful waterfall there as well if you'd like to see those photos, it's stunning! ;)
Thanks! =)
Hey , Awesome Photography . Happy travels
Hey @indiantraveller, thank you! Nature is literally doing all of the work here, I barely broke a sweat ;) I'll be posting tons more of this journey, every day was something magnificent in NZ :)
wonderful pics - and reminds me of some that my son took when he was on his travels too! Thanks for sharing them!
Hi @crystalstar :) did your son go to New Zealand as well? It's such a natural paradise there! I took hundreds and hundreds of photos ;)
yes he did last year for the festival season - he is heading back for the Busker festival again this year in Christchurch - he's Mighty Mike (from Canada) - check his site out!! but when he had some "down time" last visit, he took a few pics much like yours!! Brilliant! mightymikeshow.com xo
Oh maybe I will be there! I go in and out for work and I am originally from Canada as well- how cool :) I bet you our paths will cross at some point! I'll be sure to check him out!
thanks - he's quite a character - a vintage strongman! Who knew?? xo
Nice post!
thanks @lucianococa! steem on :)
:)
I love New Zealand! I traveled there in 2014. I am actually writing posts about that right now on steemit! :)
Oh awesome! I was there earlier in 2017 and had to go back and do some more, it's just too incredible isn't it? :)
Yes it is! I would love to go back there again, but it's such a long trip to get there! :P
I know, I am over here kind of close to it and it still takes me 20 hours to do it with layovers and all the fun :P
Just awesome.
I am so excited to be able to share these pictures! I posted some more yesterday in another post and will keep them coming as I organize my photos ;)
This is so awesome! New Zealand just became a "must visit" for me about a month ago while looking over a world map. Your pictures are amazing and confirm that I'd be in heaven there!
LOL @ “the orcs are coming!”
Great post.
It's incredible! I highly recommend it if you get the chance! I'll share some more photos just to tease you into making that trip :) I was there for 3 months at the beginning of the year and had to go back and take more in ;)
I wish I could post the go pro videos of those orcs ;) You'd laugh for sure at their strange noises!
I hope you make the trip =D
Lol! Hopefully 2019 as I already have an Asian trip coming up next month!