If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan you’ve probably already seen this, and if you’re not, you’re probably not interested. However, I’m going to post it anyway because the background scenery in the movies really does a great job of showcasing New Zealand.
Now I am a fan of the movies, and I’ve even read The Hobbit, but I still gaze in wonder at people like my nephew Hamish (with whom I watched the movie) who know the names of every character by sight, even the dwarves. Below are the actors who feature in this episode of Beautiful New Zealand, and the characters they play in the movie.
Richard Armitage – Thorin Oakenshield, Dwarf Mark Hadlow – Dori, Dwarf
Ian McKellan – Gandalf the Grey, Wizard Peter Jackson – Director
Martin Freeman – Bilbo Baggins, Hobbit Elijah Wood – Frodo Baggins, Hobbit
Jed Brophy – Nori, Dwarf Graham McTavish – Dwalin, Dwarf
William Kircher – Bifur, Dwarf Sylvester McCoy – Radagast the Brown, Wizard
Dean O’Gorman – Fili, Dwarf Peter Hambleton – Gloin, Dwarj
James Nesbitt – Bofur, Dwarf Andy Serkis – Gollum, 2nd Unit Director
Stephen Hunter – Bombur, Dwarf
The locations that feature are Aorangi/Mt Cook, Central Otago, Lake Pukaki, Lake Wakatipu, Matamata, the Nokomai bog, the Passburn track, Pio Pio, Queenstown, Strathclyde, the Sutherland Falls, Te Kuiti, Treble Cone, and Twizel.
I hope you enjoyed it. 🙂
People don’t realize how beautiful NZ is. When they go on trips, they devote all or most of their time to visiting Australia and miss out on so much in NZ. I haven’t been to the South Island, but I really love north country (because I guess I’m an ocean kind of girl despite my white skin that likes to burn).
Hi Diana – it’s actually the North Island I prefer too, and most of these videos focus on the South Island. I burn a bit too, but I really miss the beaches where I am now. I’ve already had a benign skin cancer thing removed of a type that’s rare for my age (they usually turn up in 70 year olds), but probably due to my childhood in the sun in Gisborne.
I remember a guy a met once from Germany who had two months to “do” Australia and NZ, and he decided six weeks for Australia and two for NZ. When he got here, he wished he’d done it the other way ’round because there was so much more here even though we’re so small.
I’ve heard people say the same to me about NZ. Yeah, I have friends who are dark skinned and have had skin cancer in NZ. I sometimes think dark people are more susceptible because they don’t burn and get nasty doses of UV the terribly white don’t.
The hole in the ozone layer is much bigger in the southern hemisphere – we suffer from the northern hemisphere pollution. 🙂 NZ and Aussie have the highest skin cancer rates in the world by quite a way.
I have to come back, there is so much to see and all in one beautiful country. Oh, if only I could win the lottery!!!
Re: Burning. I’ve travelled quite a bit (espec. in Africa) yet it wasn’t until my first time down under that I experienced such a fierce sun, it really is much more intense than anywhere else I’ve ever been (I’ve been across the Sahara 6 times) and will easily catch out the unwary.
Whenever I’m in NZ my nose burns no matter how much sun block I put on so I’ve resorted to wearing a hat.
We love visitors! It makes life more interesting – most NZers are big travelers, even though we’re miles from anywhere. It’s pretty standard also for people to take a couple of years after university to do a Big OE (overseas experience) traveling, or working overseas for a few years before settling back here.
Tolkien fever is gripping our country again. So it s more fun than ever to take your own Unexpected Journey to New Zealand, the Home of Middle-earth.