Day 2: Weathertop
On our second day in New Zealand, we struck out from Auckland in search of our first Lord of the Rings film site: Weathertop. Our search took us to Port Waikato, on the northwest side of the north island. With no Strider to guide us, we followed the advice of an invaluable book and tips from the locals.
We took the lone unsealed (unpaved) road heading south into a fabulous hill country evoking the Weather Hills of Eregion. Rock outcroppings of fantastic shapes, streaked dark and light, crowned the sharply rolling hills. The lack of people—save one other car—added to the air of desolate beauty as a storm moved in. The rain fell harshly, and with no clearer clues save to “follow the road” in search of Weathertop, at length we turned back.
While we didn’t see the actual hill used for the film, we encountered countless others that would have served for it with their fascinating rocky shapes and vivid green vegetation. Soon after we turned around, the rain cleared away in favor of brilliant sunshine to illuminate our picnic lunch.
From Middle Earth to Narnia
Having touched the ocean on the west side of New Zealand’s north island, we traveled clear across to the eastern coast to Hot Water Beach, an incredible attraction. Scalding water bubbled up through the sand to be tempered by the cool incoming waves from the ocean. Many people dug their own little hot tubs in the sand to enjoy the water. The surrounding area held an even more delightful surprise for us fantasy fans, however.
We walked along the coast to take in the view of some of the coves. One sign pointed to Cathedral Cove. We thought that sounded pretty, and followed to trail to an overlook of a stunning pointed opening in the cliffs over the beautiful bright blue surf. We thought it looked familiar, like the beach in Prince Caspian when the Pevensie children arrive back in Narnia near Cair Paravel. To our delight, when we reconnected to the internet, our research showed that this was indeed the very film site. Though without a magical wardrobe or train station, we had stumbled into our other favorite fantasy realm, Narnia!
The next day, however, would hold our visit to the most iconic and well-visited film site of all. Join us next time on our visit to the one and only Hobbiton!
Journey to Middle Earth Series:
Day 1: Living Like Hobbits (Auckland)
Day 2: To Middle Earth and Beyond! (Port Waikato & Hot Water Beach)
Day 3-4: Hobbiton (Matamata)
Day 5: Geothermal Wonderland (Rotorua)
Day 6: The Forests and Rivers of Middle Earth (North Island)
Day 7: Weta Workshop & the Forests of Middle Earth (Wellington)
Day 8: Paths of the Dead (Putangirua Pinnacles)
Day 9: Flight of Fantasy (Wellington & Christchurch)
Day 10: Edoras, Capital of Rohan (Mount Sunday)
Day 11: Lake Pukaki (Laketown)
Days 12-14 part 1: Queenstown (Isengard, Lothlorien, Ithilien, and more!)
Days 12-14 part 2: Queenstown (Argonath, Dimrill Dale, Rohan, and more!)
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Wow! Weathertop is beautiful! And that’s so fantastic that you stumbled into Narnia as well. I had no idea they filmed any Narnia scenes in New Zealand.
Me neither! But stick with the tour, and we’ll make it to Narnia and some other movies, too!