15th: Mount Sunday (Edoras)

So the trip. Outside shabby backpackers at 9 in the morning for geek heaven. A trip to Edoras. Sadly not the Edoras from the films, the sets got taken down about 15 minutes after filming finished, but the impressive enough rock on which it was built.
At 9 on the dot a monstrous truck rolls up, driven by a chap called Hammond, who was a sound recordist on Peter Jackson's last half dozen films, who does this on the side while there's no filming. Four others get on, a Pole (working in Rochdale) called Marsten, a Korean, improbably called Denis, and two girls from Bromsgrove (it sounds better than Birmingham, they say with a practiced giggle) called Simone & Victoria. The truck would probably have taken twenty, but it's just the five pulling away.
Its about 170km to go, during which time we stop for coffee, a part of the 4wd assembly manages to break the emergency radio, and Hammond keeps up a steady commentary on what we're being driven through and what it was like making the films, peppered with DVD extras.
The country around Edoras is stunning. It looked good in the film, and it turns out there's little trickery there. It even transpires that Helm's Deep is actually in the right place - most of the time the film flits like a mad feller across North & South Islands, but Helm's Deep is about 5-10 miles away in a little valley nestled in the Ered ...., just like it should be. Well trickery permitting of course. The approach shots are in the same area, most of the filming was in a quarry just outside Wellington. Not just Doctor Who ...
On top of Edoras we tack photos, pose with prob weapons and brace against the howling winds rushing down the valley, before returning to the tour company's barn for a decent packed lunch and the opportunity to buy stuff. In a moment of weakness I get a book listing as many location shots as the author's been able to pin down. Very nice book actually, but I'm unlikely to be able to use it in the rest of this trip.
Then back to Christchurch and the shabby backpackers. Stay long enough to post a blog entry (which on their hyper slow connection is rather a long time) and out. Inferior Japanese for supper, then a couple of pints in different bars. Drawn into the one I write this in by a good if slightly loud jazz band.