“One does not simply walk into Mordor” Well in New Zealand you actually can. Related Categories: Rohan | Free Brochures | Swing Bridge | The Shire | 4wd Tracks Waikato | Mt Doom, Skip to main content Home »Driving Routes »Lord of the Rings »Hobbiton - Mordor - River Anduin »Day 3 Driving Route : Hobbiton - Mordor - River Anduin Itinerary * Overview * Day 1 : Auckland to Rotorua * Day 2 : Rotorua to Taupo * Day 3 : Taupo to Turangi * Day 4 : Turangi to…, Skip to main content Home »Driving Routes »Lord of the Rings »Hobbiton - Mordor - River Anduin »Day 1 Driving Route : Hobbiton - Mordor - River Anduin Itinerary * Overview * Day 1 : Auckland to Rotorua * Day 2 : Rotorua to Taupo * Day 3 : Taupo to Turangi * Day 4 : Turangi to…, …day hike from alpine meadow to mountain summit, with stunning volcanic landscapes along the way. Once again, I remember Kiwi Mike: “Do not, I repeat, do not fall down into the Red Crater. Sliding gravel turns to boggy soil with a cover of tussock, daisies and gentians. Mangawhero River: Gollum catches a fish. A very memorable day on a very unremarkable hike, A Welsh colony in Patagonia? To celebrate the release of The Hobbit this month, two super nerds will do in six days what took Frodo and Sam three movies to complete. This is around a 200KM walk and will probably take us about a week to finish. RELATED: Beyond Middle Earth: What’s New Zealand’s secret power? Now we’re ready to tackle ‘The Devil’s Staircase,’ a steep, irregular incline of volcanic debris zigging and zagging to a top we cannot yet discern. The sun is now behind us as we tread Tongariro’s eastern slopes. Tongariro Alpine Crossing – Mordor / Mt Doom. There, above a ring of clouds, rises Mount Taranaki in all its glory, 138 kilometers away as the crow flies. Huts can be found only on the "Great Walk" Northern Circuit route. Walk from The Shire to Mordor via jungle, beach, and mountain peaks ... It’s one of New Zealand’s big selling points, but the separate counties enforce strict rules and limit your options. Buy Kiwiana and other New Zealand products quickly and easily. NZ has excellent ski and snowboarding options for a range of abilities on many skifields. A gasping 45 minutes on, I plant my boot on the edge of the South Crater with what seems my last breath. DAY 6 - Tongariro National Park - Wellington Continue your journey through farmlands to New Zealand's capital city - Wellington. The 19-kilometer Tongariro Alpine Crossing in Tongariro National Park is billed as the best day hike in New Zealand. At the height of summer, up to 1000 people file … With the upcoming December release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, New Zealand will again be top of mind. In this short video, we meet two guys who spent a week in New Zealand making the 120 mile trek from Hobbiton to the film location of Mount Doom to prove that you can actually walk into Mordor. Tomorrow morning before work, before breakfast, as SOON as you wake up, put on your shoes, and go outside for a five-minute walk. Track overview. The descent from the Red Crater is hairy, like stepping down a scree, but the view is absurdly spectacular. Stay: National Park (1 night) DAY 4 - Tongariro National Park - Wellington Continue your journey through farmlands to New Zealand's capital city - Wellington. Plus, you’ll get to visit Weta Workshop, where many of the set and prop pieces were designed, all while enjoying fabulous feasts and good drink. Like all New Zealand birds, they look at us unperturbed, with a gaze that says: “I used to be a dinosaur, you know.” And it is here, looking across all the way to Lake Taupo and the voluptuous curves of Mount Pihanga clad in a cloak of green foliage, that we sit down to have our baguettes (me) and energy bars (Joe). We certainly can't. Mt Ruapehu: Trip to Mordor - See 457 traveler reviews, 521 candid photos, and great deals for Tongariro National Park, New Zealand, at Tripadvisor. Experience it. Billed as the best one-day hike in New Zealand, this 19-kilometer trail bisects the North Island’s central volcanic plateau reaching a summit of 1,886 meters. It took us two years to even get this subscription form sorted out. Welcome to the Welsh Wild West. In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, how long would it take someone to walk from the Shire to Mordor and how much quicker would it be to fly the journey on the back of an eagle?In both Tolkien's original work and Peter Jackson's movie trilogy, young Frodo Baggins is tasked with carrying his uncle's world-threatening ring to the one place in the land where it can be unmade. I’ll take this moment to point out that the NZ Dept. Whatever—without a word being exchanged, here we are, walkmates on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Deep in the heart of New Zealand’s Dual Heritage, Tongariro National Park is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, known as one of the best one-day walks in the world and one of New Zealand’s nine ‘Great Walks.’. The spirits demanded a sacrifice, so Ngatoru threw Auruhoe to the crater and named the mountain after her: Ngauruhoe. Could you turn down a chance to follow in Frodo’s footsteps? Trash bins are only at the beginning and at the end of the track. The landscape here is just stunning. You’ll be trapped!” I look down at the abyss and shudder—would they helicopter us out? Description: An itinerary that will take you from the peacefulness of the Shire to the depths of Mount…, …helicopter flight into the heart of Mordor or visit Whakapapa Ski Field for further Mordor locations (own expense). The sound of slipping pebbles makes everyone stop and look aside. Tolkien, it’s Emerald Lake that really steals the show. Walk To Mordor. We can see all the way to the Rangipo desert and the jagged peaks of Mount Ruapehu. So, take out everything you bring in. It was founded in 1887 and it is the oldest New Zealand park and the fourth oldest national park in the world. The entire Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, as imagined by Peter Jackson in the film adaption of the books, serves as a highly effective tourism advert for New Zealand.. Having seen all the films, and being a bit of a Tolkien fan, it was inevitable that New Zealand would make it onto my list of places I must visit. The entire area is protected by UNESCO. After such hellish creation myths, it’s no wonder the plateau is sacred—tapu—to the Maori. Like all New Zealand birds, they look at us unperturbed, with a gaze that says: “I used to be a dinosaur, you know.”. Ohakune area short walks Tongariro National Park. The national park’s landscape is so unearthly that it was used to depict Mordor; home of the evil Sauron, in Peter Jackson’s famed films of J.R.R. The New Zealand Cycle Trail covers the country from head to toe. Then comes the glorious sight of the twin Emerald Lakes, their green as brilliant as South Island jade. The New Zealand Road Spiral Atlas (HEMA, ISBN13 9781877302367) features Lord of the Rings locations. The terrain here could easily double for Mars, should NASA ever need to fake a landing. We'll either be camping or staying at an Inn or something similar if … Tongariro National Park New Zealand, is NZ's oldest National Park and a dual World Heritage area. Yes. You can get the bus to Mangatepopo and back from Ketetahi hut with Tongariro Expeditions. The epic Mount Ngauruhoe, seen here from the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, is named after an equally epic Maori creation myth. Why, even some pipits are chirping to celebrate our arrival. I was pretty much chained to my desk the past few days working, so I hardly had the time to explore the area. The variety of scenery on New Zealand walks always amazes us. In fact, it feels like you are walking on the moon! The enforced stop leads our gaze west across the Mangatepopo plain to the Wanganui valley and beyond. Thanks to a geologically turbulent past, the area provided the Lord of the Rings crew with the raw material they needed to create mystical Middle-earth, including Mordor, Emyn Muil, Mount Doom and the…, …Park. Paradise - a real place in New Zealand's Southern Lakes region is a picture of glorious isolation and natural grandeur. Level up your exercise by tracking the distance you walk/run/bike/etc along the path Sam and Frodo took to Mordor in Lord of the Rings. While the whole region looks like something conjured up in the mind of J.R.R. Make your trip easier and buy a detailed New Zealand map. After traversing the South Crater, we face a second climb to the Red Crater—it may e shorter, but its far more tiring than the Devil’s Staircase. We marvel, drink some water and take photos. To celebrate the release of The Hobbit, two Lord of the Rings super-fans, Kerry Shawcross and Chris Demarais, attempt to walk over 120 miles across New Zealand from the filming location of Hobbiton to the real life Mount Doom in only six days. I'm planning a holiday with a group of friends to walk from The Shire (Hobbiton in Matamata) to Mt Doom in Mordor (Mt Ngauruhoe). Often described as New Zealand's greatest day walk, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing is a challenging journey across a remarkable volcanic landscape. Coordinates: 39° 19.161'S 175° 30.158'E - view in Google maps Access: Ohakune Mountain Rd. The first part of the track, from the Mangatepopo car park to the Soda Springs is a pleasant walk. I sense it and so does Joe: “One small burp” he says, “and everyone on the trail is dead”. I remember Kiwi Mike: “Do not, I repeat, do not fall down into the Red Crater. Once on the rim of the Red Crater—no prizes for guessing its color—we follow a path so tight that it sometimes narrows down to six feet with steep drops either side. The hike up to the Red Crater, pictured, was shorter but even more grueling than the Devil’s Staircase. Even small gusts of wind make our balance tricky. Hunt down those real-life fantastical scenes on our Hobbit trail. Scientists terraforming Mars need look no further than here. He has authored or co-authored 20 books and has bylines in CNN Travel, National Geographic Traveller and the Daily Telegraph. Otherwise you might be forced to pay for a spot on an expensive campsite. It all starts deceptively flat at the Mangatepopo parking lot. Trekking … Is this the best island in the world for stargazing. A boardwalk leads us towards a blinding sun that confers a fiery copper glow to the tussock- and lichen-strewn field we’re traversing. Mount Ngauruhoe (Māori: Ngāuruhoe) is an active stratovolcano in New Zealand.It is the youngest vent in the Tongariro volcanic complex on the Central Plateau of the North Island, and first erupted about 2,500 years ago.Although often regarded as a separate mountain, geologically it … Perhaps take a short helicopter flight into the heart of Mordor or visit Whakapapa Ski Field for further Mordor locations (own…, …Driving Routes Hobbiton - Mordor - River Anduin Itinerary (4 Days) Start: Auckland Finish: Wellington Includes: Auckland, Hamilton, Cambridge, Rotorua, Taupo, Turangi, National Park and Wellington. of Conservation lists the Crossing as “challenging” and you should have a … How tough can Britain’s toughest trail really be? This afternoon, go for five-minute walk. Proper hiking gear is essential. New Zealand's West Coast is a unique destination with a pristine lush green environment. The most popular options to explore the park are the Tongariro Northern Circuit (one of the Great Walks) and the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 19.4km long day walk. Mordor Billed as one of New Zealand’s best day hikes, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing winds through a national park best known as Peter Jackson’s Mordor. Day 1: Auckland to Rotorua | LOTR Driving Route: Hobbiton - Mordor - River An... Taupo New Zealand Scenic Highlights, Things to See in Lake Taupo NZ. Mangatepopo Valley. Lord of the Rings Highlights Self-Drive Holiday Tour New Zealand, Self-Drive ... Lord of the Rings Driving Routes, LOTR Self Drive Routes New Zealand. The atmosphere is so crystal-clear we can see the snow wrinkles at its peak, a cone so perfect that Taranaki stood in for Mount Fuji in Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai. After the eerie silence of the trail and the sporadic birdsong of the forest, the human hum sounds abnormal, alien, aberrant. This morning marked our final day staying at the Hilton Queenstown. 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