First Lord of the Rings film location

What an amazing day! We woke up to a very wet and cloudy Methven and Nick questioned our plan for the day: to visit Lake Clearwater and the site where Edoras was filmed in LOTR. I pushed for us to still go because although it was raining the forecast did predict sun from lunchtime onwards. When working in the cafe I could arrive at work in pouring rain and 2 hours later it'd be glorious weather so I've learnt that the weather changes rapidly here. We packed up our belongings and said goodbye to Honey the cat before setting off on the hour drive. We passed the carpark where we parked to do our Mt. Somers walk and carried along 10km of gravel road. The road was very bumpy and we took it very slowly trying not to damage the car too much. After driving behind a herd of cows being moved along the road by what we now call 'cow dogs' we reached the small village of Clearwater sat on the side of the lake. It seemed to be mainly small holiday homes as many houses had all their curtains drawn. We parked up at the start of our route, a 3 hours walk around the lake. I decided to try out my new coat which definitely sums up backpacking life. I'm pretty sure it's a men's and it's two sizes too big so I've tightened every elastic part I can and it's completely not my taste im colour but it is water and wind proof and was a bargain $7 in a charity shop. You really can't turn that down! After a quick tea from our flask we began to walk. It was very calm with only the sound of insects around and as we continued to walk the weather just kept improving. About half way through it was glorious sunshine and we had to remove several layers of clothing to cope with the change in temperature. Although we did really enjoy the walk, and it wasn't too strenuous at all, we did reach a point where we were ready to move on. The scenerary didn't alter much because the lake isn't large enough to allow for that so as beautiful as it was we were eager for the next destination. We eventually made it back to the car and headed back onto the gravel to Mt. Sunday, aka Edoras. As you come around a bend and start to descend into a valley the scenery is just breathtaking. A completely flat plain with rivers running through it and mountains enclosing the whole area lie in front of you and in the middle stands Mt. Sunday. It definitely isn't a mountain but more a large rock and we found out it gained it's name by local sheep farmers meeting up on the summit every Sunday for a meeting. You just couldn't get over how incredible the scenery was. Everything felt unreal and almost like you're looking at a painting. We walked up to Edoras crossing rivers on small bridges before finally climbing to the top. It's a steep climb but only lasts about 5 minutes so it isn't too bad. At the top you have panoramic views of the plains below and mountains as far as the eye can see. The sun was rather blinding in one direction so you couldn't look that way for long. I don't think I've ever felt so small in my whole life. For me it's 100% the most incredible place I've ever seen so far. Unfortunately we couldn't enjoy it in peace because there was a man there flying his drone around and it's hard to ignore a very loud buzzing sound overhead. After a while we realised it was getting late so we tore ourselves away to face the gravel road back to tarmac and onto our next destination, Springfield. We drove as the sun set behind the mountains and eventually after stopping to pick up takeaway made it to an adorable Airbnb at 7.30pm to use as our base for the next 4 days. Where we visited today is a place most backpackers miss out because of how off route it is. If this is how amazing the unpopular places are I can't wait to see what else is in-store for us during the rest of our adventure.Read more