Twizel

Today would have been the perfect day to visit Mt. Cook as the weather was perfect! Clear views. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for that as we had something much more important to do: visit the Pelennor Fields. Or for you non-nerds: the location where the huge battle scene at the end of the third Lord of the Rings movie was shot for 31 days.

We got to see the locations of Theodens speech, the Charge of the Rohirrim, some Osgiliath stuff, Gandalf crossing over from Rohan to Gondor, etc. We also learned a lot about movie making in the early 2000s and the impact that a movie crew of up to 1000 people can have on a village that is barely bigger than that. That alone was awesome. But the most awesome thing was that we got to play with some replica gear and could dress up a little.

And in the end we even saw the summit of Mt. Cook from the village.

Also, since we booked quite late, all dorms were fully booked and there were no double rooms available for under $200! But we finally found an alternative and are for two night in a holiday house. The first time in five months that we are in a completely independent place... awesome!Read more