Today I will mostly be… climbhing to the top of Mount Sunday – in other words, the location scene for the Kingdom of Rohan’s capital city of EDORAS – based in the beautiful and stunning (I use these words a lot when describing New Zealand) region of Mount Potts Station in what Kiwis call ‘the High Country’ just outside of Christchurch.My day began with a collection outside the YHA hostel in a 4WD toyata with the subtle livery “LORD OF THE RINGS OFF ROAD SCENIC TOURS’ emblazened on the side – no chance to pretend I’m not a tourist today! The driver ‘Mark’ was very good at entertaining us with history of the area and tales from the Lord of the Rings filming so by the time we arrived some 3 hours later into the mountanous area of ‘Erehwon’ (based ont he word ‘nowhere’ spelt backwards because there is nothing there) – I was ready to tackle the mountain summit and have my cheesy photos taken with swords and Rohan flag blowing in the wind (and it is very windy up there). Before I go on… in case you have no idea what I am going on about…. you need to watch the 2nd LOTR movie ‘the Twin Towers’ and see the scenes of the saxonish looking wooden city built on top of a mound in the middle of a flat valley plain between a range of snow capped mountains – this is where I went!The 4WD bounced it’s way over the gravel tracks at the end of the tarmac road leading us into the off road section of the trip and across – literally – several river systems which make up the ‘braided’ Rakatito river ( I think that is the name). The view of Mount Sunday as you approach is straight out of the film – minus the set which was removed immediately after filming. Just amazing! It took them 8 months to build the city and just 8 days of filming before it was destroyed and all the nature returned to it’s former glory – no trace exists today – except a small hole in the rock where a drill was used and some random rusty nails here and there. Parking at the base of the summit we then walked a short but steep distance to the very pinnacle and some fine views across the valley and mountains – still with snow on. I then had my ‘cheesy’ photos! and after an hour or so of looking through the LOTR location books and photos of the filming it was time to leave. A hard place to leave actually – it felt very serene and magical. Lunch was at the local Mount Potts Sheep Station – champagne and sarnies, before the drive back to town. A really good day out and the sun shone too! It could only have been improved if Viggo Mortensonand had been there with me! Oh well.. dream on.
