This tiny village of picturesque homes and shops could be a quaint backwater somewhere in rural England or northern France. But we’re halfway around the world from them.
As our tender from Seabourn Cruises’ Seabourn Encore arrived at the tiny, wooden pier of Akaroa, New Zealand, the greeting couldn’t have been heartier, no matter where in the world it was.
“Welcome to Middle Earth,” a jolly fellow said as he helped us out of the tender. “Just call me Hammond.”
We’re on a day trip to some of the majestic mythical settings for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Our guide, it would turn out, was part of the Oscar-winning team who had helped craft the three classic films.
Our small group boarded a bus waiting on the side of the only road out of town, as was clear from an arrow -shaped sign reading All Directions. It might just as well have read Lord of the Rings country this way, because this central part of New Zealand’s South Island has become synonymous with J.R.R Tolkein’s fantasy and its gorgeous landscapes are where the mythical Middle Earth became reality during filming of the three epic films between 2000 and 2003.
Our guide Hammond Peek is a sound engineer who we were later to discover was nominated for four Academy Awards and won statues twice–for best sound for Lord of the Rings and later for his work on the remake of King Kong. He didn’t let on about his achievements at first, but it was clear that he had an encyclopedic recall of where and how the Ring cycle’s scenes came to life here.
The trilogy actually used almost 150 different locations around the North and South islands for scenes. We’re not going to see them all today, but everywhere we looked, it was instantly clear why the moody and sparsely populated valleys and mountains of the region known as Canterbury were apt locales for a dreamy fantasy.
It’s a full morning’s drive through a landscape of lush rolling grasslands speckled with sheep and clear blue lakes. From the town of Akaroa we’re headed toward Mount Sunday and a river valley that the film makers transformed into Edoras, the capital city of the Rohan people, which featured in the film The Two Towers.
There aren’t any towns or hotels anywhere near the remote locations and that posed huge challenges for filming, Hammond recalls. They had to construct a town-sized set here but no one could stay in it overnight. Hundreds of extras, included entre classes of school kids who were playing villagers, had to make daily treks to the film locations that could take up to three hours each way. That required the casts to assemble before dawn to join convoys of buses and trucks to the fantasy sets, that were all dismantled when the filming was complete.
It’s definitely an inspiring drive. For a morning tea—or coffee–break, we made a stop in a neat and pristinely quiet farm community at the mouth of a valley we’re told is known as Paradise. Morning snacks were laid out in a century-old wooden community center that features a beautifully tended cricket pitch. On the walls are group portraits from generations of sheep-herding families who have gathered here regularly for company and the only entertainment in town.
Passing through Paradise Valley, it’s clear why the surrounding high country’s peaks are known as the Southern Alps. The road becomes a dirt path and we drive around a pristine pond without a ripple on its surface that’s aptly named Lake Clearwater. Then it’s uphill to a stunning photo stop at Mount Potts Station, which is a favorite summer campground with spectacular views of the valleys below.
We’re heading to the foot of Mount Sunday, where much of LOTR–The Two Towers was filmed. Almost nothing remains today of the film sets, which took nine months to build, but you can still feel the almost magical attraction of the place. A rustic wooden bridge made for the film crosses the rushing Deep Creek that in the film stood in for the novel’s snow-fed Snowbourn river that flows icy cold from the mountains. The stream sparkles with reflections off of waves as well as from long-jawed galaxiid fish, which are known here as star fish because of the reflective gold and silver speckles on their backs.
It’s hard not to be inspired by the majesty of the valley. Even though our tour group is urged to stay close as we get off the coach, the folks quickly scatter to climb the hills and take photos. Selfies on the rickety foot bridge become a walk across it and then a scramble along narrow paths that seem ideal for Hobbits.
Hammond unloads prop swords and capes—but unfortunately no rings to rule them all– and we stage mock battles to film for the folks back home.
It’s been an extraordinary day, but eventually it’s time to head back to the Seabourn Encore.
On the return to the port, Hammond has delightful stories of his adventures during what became annual trips to Hollywood as he and his team were nominated for Oscars for all three LOTR films that were released in successive years between 2001 and 2003.
There had been plenty of hobnobbing with stars at a whirlwind of Academy Awards parties, but for Hammond, Tinseltown was all as much a fantasy set as the realm of the Hobbits. He prefers the fantastic reality of his home in New Zealand.
Yes, it’s beautiful but I’d argue that it can’t be any more fantastic than life on our home at sea: a Seabourn Cruise.
New Zealand is opening up to tourism after a more than two years of restrictions that banned cruise visits.
Seabourn returns to Australia and New Zealand with a series of comprehensive adventures on Seabourn Odyssey beginning in December 2022 and including intensive 14 -nd 16-night New Zealand itineraries in 2023. A segment of the world cruise of Seabourn Sojourn also explores the realms down under as part of the 140-night Extraordinary Discoveries World Cruise that begins in Miami on Jan 6, 2023.
Story by Wallace Immen, Executive Editor, The Cruisington Times
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