There and Back Again - A Hobbit Lovers Tale, Part 7

Edoras! The capital of Rohan! Built on a hill in the valley of the White Mountains, Edoras was the home of the Golden Hall of Meduseld. Known as the Golden Hall because the thatched roof shown gold in the sun. It’s people, the Rohirrim were proud, willful, true-hearted and generous. They were horse people, and loved their horses as their own families. Finding a spot for the movie set for the Rohirrim was one of the biggest challenges faced by the location crew. But they persevered and found Mt. Sunday, nestled in the Southern Alps. It took nine months to build the set and three weeks to shoot.

Edoras is built on private land, but the owner is fine with having visitors. It is one of the most remote LOTR movie sites, and a bit difficult to get to. You drive down a long gravel one-lane road, and finally get to the car park. There are no bathroom facilities here, but we had a guide; a farmer who owned land near the site with a public restroom. Our guide, Vic, met us dressed as Gandalf, and for a moment, we all thought it was Ian McKellen himself. Vic is in his 80’s and led our Fellowship through the challenging terrain. They grow them tough in NZ. Vic was an extra in the films, and had lots of great stories about meeting the actors, getting made up for his roles (he had more than one), and being invited to the grand opening in Wellington.

The first thing you notice as the bus approaches Edoras is that it doesn’t look too difficult to climb. That is quite misleading and is a result of the Southern Alps cradling it and making it look easy. In fact, it might not be too bad for seasoned hikers, except for the wind. And the wind is incredible, due to the tunnel created by the Alps. We were warned to wear sunscreen for this climb, and Bob and I were advised to get walking sticks. The walking sticks were crucial and I was so glad we had taken that advice. Not only do they give stability and support when climbing and descending, but they help in preventing you from flying off the mountain, as you maintain a four-point access to the ground. The sunscreen was probably helping, but we both had a two-day windburn. We both wore hats, as advised, but many hats flew off and keeping them on was rough. As you reach the top of Edoras, you honestly think you could simply raise your arms and begin to fly. I don’t think any of us were prepared for the wind.

But the view was magnificent. The Alps were capped with snow and rose into the clouds. While it was fairly cold, we were very fortunate to have a beautiful blue sky and clear weather. It was impossible to imagine anyone building a set, especially the complex set of Edoras in that wind. Vic told us stories of the massive undertaking, which needed the help of the NZ Army to build several hundred meters of road so that all of the equipment and building materials, actors, extras and horses could get up there. Every piece of the set had to be secured to the rock with iron pegs to keep it from blowing away. After filming, the entire set had to be dismantled and returned to its natural state.

Of course, once our Fellowship reached the top, we had to reenact many scenes. Holding the flag of the Rohirrim was not easy. Heck, just standing still was not easy! But we managed to get lots of pictures and no one flew off. For my part, I found a big rock to sit on and just took in the view. We got a bit lost on the climb down, and instead of availing ourselves of the wooden bridges over the many streams, we had to wade through a few. Luckily I was wearing boots so I didn’t get too wet. I think I will take walking sticks with me on all walks from now on—they are wonderful.

We took Vic back to his farm, and headed on to the Mackenzie Country Inn for the night. We had been told to bring sandwiches and drinks with us to Edoras and most of us were starved after our hike. Then everyone fell asleep. Bus rides are very lulling.

On the way we passed Lake Tekapo. This lake is a hydro lake and its water generates power for NZ’s main grid. It is a beautiful turquoise blue as it was created by the glaciers in the headwater of the lake. The waters contain a fine dust, called rock flour which is suspended in the water and causes the color. NZ is not only known for its mountains and lakes, but their lakes provide power and drinking water. The water there is really delicious. Cold and clear and enriched with minerals.

I forgot to mention earlier about the famous Red Carpet Tours LOTR Quiz. We did that yesterday. Now I had thought that since I have been a fan of the LOTR books, movies and the Silmarillion for many years, that I would be able to hold my own during the quiz. Boy was I wrong. The level of high quality geeks on this tour was epic. And the questions were hard! The first and second place winners got some candy and bragging rights, but that wasn’t the end. We were then divided into teams with the two leaders as captains, and given the homework of creating 36 questions for each team, for the purpose of another competition. Bob and I spent some time creating questions we thought were challenging but not impossible and turned them into our captain, Dan. Our team name was the DuneDan, a play on the Dunedin, the race of man, and Dan.

Once we made it to the Mackenzie Inn and had a buffet dinner, we got together with our team to finalize our questions for the big competition. Many of our questions came from LOTR fan sites, wikis, footnotes and obscure lines from the books and the movies. I barely knew the answers to our team questions, in fact, I wasn’t sure I understood the questions! But we could see the opposing team across the room and knew they were working as hard. Bob and I admitted to our team members that we doubted we could be much help. In fact, I told them I would personally make sure they remained hydrated during the contest, and Bob said he would provide litigation services free. We went off to bed feeling very chastised as LOTR experts.

Next day is Thanksgiving. This is not celebrated in NZ, but we’re in for a treat anyway. We will visit Laketown, Pelennor Fields, and have the team quiz on the coach.