Day 49: Ride of the Rings!

Saturday 23rd January

Let's go ride horses! Had to do it at some point and a Lord of the Rings (and many othe films) tour seemed the best opportunity. The Dart Stables have many horses used in various films, the local area being used for a significant amount of filming.

Distance: Bus, 50km, Land Rover Discovery, 20km, Clydesdale McLeod, 8km

Total Distance:  5519km

The weather isn't predictable here, but it is plentiful. Today's weather was occasional downpours, with the odd flash of sun. There was some uncertainty as to whether we would ride for a while before there was enough of a break to give it a try.

Thankfully my sister and various stables have given me some training in horsemanship so I wasn't a total novice. Still, I want going to go on the 3 hour gallop though. Instead I went for the 1 hour ride, which would be followed by an hour in the shiny Disco down the valley to see where Boromir died and Wolverine's wife was found unconscious, as well as Saruman's vale and Beorn's home.

McLeod, an 8 year old Clydesdale was mine for the morning. He's the youngest of their herd of 60, not very big for a Clydesdale, bottom of the pecking order, whilst also being the greedy guts of the outfit. Hence the need for me to yank his head away from the foliage we passed so as to tell him who's boss. He wasn't best pleased at first, but we got to know each other over the hour.

We were taken around part of the valley by an English girl leading us through ice cold streams and across the pastoral lands. About us were the grand mountains and forests of Middle-Earth, Narnia, and Wolverine's Canadian life. W passed by a few older horses used in Lord of the Rings and Narnia. 

It was depressing to be told that the Lord of the Rings was filmed here 17 years ago and most of the horses in it are either dead or well into retirement. It's logical, but still sad. Also, I'm only 25, and that fact make me feel old. 17 years. Blimey.

Just as I figured McLeod out (and had a tiny trot to catch up the group) we were back at the stables. 

From here I was the only one on the part of the tour involving the 4x4 trip through the rivers and streams down into more of movie land, including the region known as "Paradise"- there's even a sign. Thankfully my driver was a great guy who I'd been chatting with as he drove the bus all the way from Queenstown. 

As we drove he told stories of both the filming here. 

Sean Bean hates helicopters, he walked for hours to the top of a mountain dressed as Boromir whilst everyone else flew for the scene when he picks up the ring as Frodo drops it.

Liv Tyler hates horses, so she sat for 10 minutes on a horse someone was holding and the rest was done with stunt riders or close ups of her on a barrel decorated to look like a horses trunk. 

When Prince Caspian was filmed here the big black horses brought from Australia wouldn't cross the ice cold rivers, so for those scenes they were swooped out for some of the stables horses. In the film you can see it as the horses are smaller and one suddenly develops a white star. 

Much of Wolverine was filmed here, mixed in with Canada. At times they are driving on NZ roads but as if they were in Canada. However, at filming and post production they didn't remember NZ drives on the left, and there are a lot of signs to remind the tourists. Scenes such as when the old couple who lake in Logan drive over a long bridge still retain the Kiwi signs and arrows on the road.

The weather still wasn't improving, and the rain came in with the clouds that blanketed the tops of the mountains, so the views weren't perfect. Has to be said though the reality never looks like the film-  a huge amount gets changed at the time of filming and postproduction, such as different horizons, or moving rocks and plants. Plus it's been 17 years since LotR was filmed- between storms, floods, landslides, earthquakes, and time things have changed.

I got back into Queenstown and visited The Fat Badger- the best pizza place in the area. Afterwards I investigated the few art galleries I'd been told to explore, before sitting on a wall in the afternoon sun to watch some street magic. 

Everyone had left when I woke up. Apparently I'd missed most of the show due to the comfortable spot I'd found. Sleepily, I headed back to the hostel, finding someone I'd met on Stewart Island there for a good catch up and tea.

Day 39: Invercargill to Stewart Island

Wednesday 13th January 

Took the ferry to Stewart Island (I've left the South Island!) and landed on the birders paradise.

Distance: Bus to Bluff, 29km, Ferry ~40km

Total Distance: 5121km

There was a German kid going from the Southern Comfort hostel to Stewart Island so we set out together on a boring, neither grey nor blue, morning to take the bus out to Bluff. Along the way we chatted about our plans- like me he was going to do the little three day "Great Walk" of Stewart Island.

At the ferry our bags were packed away into large steel tubs and hoisted on board. We followed onto the little craft and found seats in the cabin with a table.

The start was rough, having to get out of the swell around Bluff before getting into the only slightly less turbulent Foveaux Strait. Outside the winds wiped up the surf as the boat hammered through the waves. We headed outside for photos and to try our sea legs, whilst chatting about how we were finally leaving the South Island and joking that we'd better look after the complimentary sick bags just in case.

Within an hour we reached the calmer waters of Stewart Island to disembark and set foot on a new land. There were already a multitude of birds in the sky and forest surrounded the little township of Oban, the one small community here.

We found our hostel, then went out to find the Department of Conservation building, getting the tickets for our walk accommodation. I dropped in to organise a ferry for the next day to Ulva Island, the largest island in the inlet by Oban, now virtually cleared of rats and deemed the best bird sactuary in the area.

The Kai Kart is on the next street serving the best Fish and Chips in all New Zealand. No kidding, we went for lunch and it was glorious. The seagulls looked at us expectantly as we tucked in, leaving nothing for them. The Germans in the hostel are presently talking about them as I write (in German- I'm able to get a few of the words, like "Fish und Chips")

We couldn't help laughing over lunch at the number of cars here. 400 people inhabit Oban. It's the only settlement on the island. There's maybe, including every side street, a total of 50km of road here, with the maximum travel distance between two places maybe being 10km, though Oban's only about 1/2km across the main centre. Yet there looks to be 200 cars. WHERE IS EVERYONE GOING??

Kind of surprised they haven't all just chipped in to buy 10 utes to leave for anyone wanting to move anything heavy. Not like anyone's going to steal them. I can understand the people further out having cars. I'm sure there's good reason for the rest, but still.

It's such a small place. And it's filled with cars! Half of them must be doing 2km per day! Oh well.

My German friend was starting the walk the next day so he went to pack as I went for a nap. I hit the hay pretty hard and was awake just in time to make it next door to the island's cinema. Yeh, they have a cinema. A proper one. Small, but it has proper seats and a decent screen. They have short-film festivals and every day at 11am, 2pm, and 4pm show a 40 minute film about the island and its history, presented by the cinema owner's dog, Lola. In the foyer Lola sits patiently for photos and cuddles- there's a hall of fame of her with such big names as Prince Harry. Before the show started a couple of people lined up to use the "make your own popcorn" machine before Lola rang her a little bell, relieved a thin slice of carrot as a treat, and we all went to find our seats.

The film revolved around "stories from the pub", going back as far as when the Maori arrived, through early days of whaling, sealing, and forestry, to the setting up on Oban. For a while Stewart Island wasn't actually part of New Zealand. No one really noticed this for years. The islanders brought supplies in from Sydney and life went on. Yet without checks at the port into Oban, and no checks from Oban to the main islands there was a loop hole. This was used by a local Maori to smuggle in gunpowder and guns which were traded to Maori on the main islands, so that they could have the advantage in intertribal wars. The initial attempt to stop this failed due to the legal loophole. Thus the island had to be bought by New Zealand from the Maori, with certain exceptions in laws such as allowing the continued traditional harvest of Mutton Birds by the local tribe, and protection for the rest. And thus Stewart Island became part of New Zealand.

There were attempts her to farm cattle and sheep, but these weren't profitable. The locals funded and built there own fish processing plant, enabling the local catch to be frozen for export on the island, making this business significantly more profitable for the island. Now there are fish and mussel farms, as well as the summer tourism, which is built up around the fact that nearly the entire island is a reserve hosting the country's rarest birds, including 50,000 kiwi, and off shore the one island to still have Kakapo.

That evening I walked around nearly all of the paths on the western side of Oban, seeing the wharf where I would be leaving for Ulva Island the next day, and a few of the birds still flying around.

As I arrived back at the hostel I was met by a phenomenal sight- everyone was in the garden and surrounded by one of New Zealand's parrots, the Kaka. The large birds were taking food off the table and people's hands as we all took photos.

Photo from Google images. Sorry, none on my phone, only camera. If anyone wants to sponsor an upgrade to tech that allows for transfers I'm all for it