| We docked at Akaroa (near Christchurch) and took what was billed as a Lord of the Rings tour - really an excuse to see the famous NZ scenery. |
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| What is New Zealand without sheep?. Actually since the European Union, there has been a decrease and cattle farming is actually bigger now. |
Again just enjoy the scenery. |
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See, as said, more cattle these days. |
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| We had to wait until they crossed - to get to the other side, of course. |
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| When Peter Jackson first saw this landscape he was stunned because it was EXACLY what he was looking for. We were pretty stunned to, although not for the same reason. |
This is the area where Rohan's capital Edoras was set up. |
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| The flag of Rohan. |
Chuck doing his best Aragorn imitation. Not sure the orcs would be too scared. |
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| The New Zealand environmental authorities were not very keen on this filming project and insisted that all trace of the project be removed after filming. They even required that all the plants be cared for and returned to their original places, via GPS. So the staging area and the building on top of the hill... |
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| ...became this again. You can also see in the above picture how CGI was used to make the mountains more imposing. |
Scenery on return trip. Simply stunning. |
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