Lord of the Rings Tour, Wellington

As I had a free day in Wellington, I planned to visit Middle-Earth, so I joined the LOTR “Full Day Rover Ring Tour” which began on Mount Victoria, at the scene where Frodo Baggins, Sam, Merry & Pippin were hiding from the Nazgûl that for the Ring, which was in the possession of Bilbo Baggins’s heir, Frodo.

The tour gave us an overview of the Miramar Peninsular, where the LOTR stars lived, and gave us a peek of the WETA Workshop.

We visited Rivendell, located in the Kaitoke Regional Park.

Rivendell is an Elven outpost in Middle-Earth, established and ruled by Elrond. It is located at the edge of a narrow gorge of the Bruinen River, but well hidden in the moorlands and foothills of the Hithaeglir or Misty Mountains.

In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins and his Hobbit companions journey to Rivendell, where they meet with Bilbo, who had retired there after his 111th birthday, spending his time on his memoir, There and Back Again. Several other Elves, Dwarves and Men also arrive at Rivendell on separate errands; at the Council of Elrond they learn that all of their errands are related to the fate of the One Ring, and they must decide what to do about it. In the end it is the Hobbits who influence the decision.


Next we visited the Gardens of Isengard. Isengard, a large fortress, was a green and pleasant place, with many large trees and grass fields, fed by the river Angren.

During the war of the Ring, Isengard was Saruman’s base of operations against the Rohirrim, and he defiled the valley, cutting down its trees, while building an army of Uruk-hai and Orcs.

On the tour, we also visited the River Anduin, the longest river in Middle-Earth. It flows from its source in the Grey and Misty Mountains to the Mouths of Anduin in the Great Sea (Belegaer).

In the movie, the Ring Bearers leave Lothlórien by way of the River Anduin, where they pass the Argonath, or gate of Kings, a monument of two enormous pillars carved in the likeness of Isildur and Anarion, standing on either side of the River Anduin.

New Fern Leaf @ Kaitoke Regional Park, Wellington, North Island, New Zealand.
Photo Image © Karen Toh