New Zealand: Day 25

Gold rule

January 27, 2013

Yet another gorgeous day of brilliant blue skies, with specks of clouds that looked like cotton balls (I hope you'll forgive me if I've forgotten my cloud nosology). Temperatures were definitely on the warm side today, reaching the upper 70s, perhaps even the low 80s. By evening the temperatures had returned to a more comfortable mid-60s.

Today I visited Middle Earth. I went to Rohan and Edoras, a little over an hour and a half outside of Christchurch. The six wheel drive vehicle picked me up at my B&B a little after 9:00 this morning, and we headed towards the South Island's alpine area after picking up a few other passengers on the tour. Our guide, Dell (yes, Dell, like the computer; he even beat us to the joke by saying so himself), was very familiar with the films and all the lore associated with them; he even had been an extra. I hope you don't mind my sharing some of those stories with you even if you know them already.

Some of the more interesting ones concerned casting of the major roles. The role of Gandalf was first offered to Sean Connery. Bond, James Bond? I'm glad he took a pass even though in doing so he also missed out on earning several hundred million dollars because he was offered a percentage of the films' profits. Epic fail, Mr. Bond! The role was next offered to Patrick Stewart. Really, Captain Picard? I can much more easily imagine Sir Stewart "make it so" more than Sean Connery, but I think the third choice, and the one who played the role, turned out to be the best choice. After having seen the LotR trilogy, and now The Hobbit, I cannot imagine anyone other than Ian McKellen as Gandalf. "You shall not pass!"

Casting of Aragorn also was interesting. Daniel Day Lewis was the producers' first choice, but he was unwilling to make the lengthy, multi-year commitment required for the role. Nicolas Cage was then considered for the role, but thank goodness that thought did not last for long. Viggo Mortensen was the next actor asked to play Aragorn, but he turned down the part. Stuart Townsend was finally cast as Aragorn, but after a few weeks of filming, the producers realized he was not suited for the role and he was fired. The producers approached Viggo Mortensen again, and he turned them down a second time. Viggo told one of his daughters about the offer and his rejection, and she was incredulous that he had refused such an opportunity. She insisted that he read the books, and after doing so, Mortensen flew to New Zealand to talk with the producers, hoping the role was still available.

Bruce Willis was a huge fan of LotR, and he desperately wanted to play Boromir. Thankfully, the producers had the good sense to "just say no." "Yippee-ki-yay"? I don't think so.

Casting of the extras was problematic, too, mostly because the producers had difficulty rounding up the number of people necessary for the huge crowds required for some scenes. The producers resorted to approaching visitors to vacation spots like Queenstown and similar locales and recruited tourists to be an extra for a day. Apparently they are using the same strategy for The Hobbit, and I just missed my chance to be an extra in one of the upcoming films of that trilogy by a couple of weeks. Interestingly, some of the supposedly male characters and orcs actually are female extras.

Then there's "the gay orc". In the scene leading up to Boromir's death, a horde of orcs are chasing Boromir. The helmet and face mask of one orc slipped so that he was unable to see, and he began tip-toeing his way forward. I missed this, but it seems the British press did not, and the scene was highlighted in the British media with the caption, "Gay Orc". An effort was made to identify, track down and interview "the gay orc". This extra happened to be a personal friend of our guide, and he told us his friend was a big, burly fellow, and he was absolutely mortified to become semi-famous as "the gay orc". He did not come forward for media attention.

And then we were on the plains of Rohan, with the recognizable jutting rocks of Edoras in the distance. Of course the set was long gone, but the locale was still easily identified. The set took eight months to build, but it was all destroyed within days of completion of filming, per the requirements of New Zealand's DOC -- Department of Conservation -- a very powerful agency in this country which might as well be the department of corrections for all of the influence it wields. Mere mortals could walk to the setting of Edoras even though it was on private property, but they had to follow carefully a marked trail that took an hour and a half to hike, one way. Because the tour company had made a special arrangement with the property owners ($$$), we were able to open fences, drive through streams, and park right at the base of Edoras.

Edoras bound
On the way to Edoras

Even so, it was an effort to climb the steep hill to its peak, but once there we had a magnificent view. Our guide had brought along a binder, not full of women, but full of stills from The Two Towers, and he matched shots with the setting and background. Everyone (except me -- I don't like being in touristy photos) wanted to have photos taken of themselves simulating takes from the movies. A favorite was the scene of Eowyn in her flowing white gown standing on the steps of the Great Hall looking pensively into the distance; we had a bit of fun with that one, especially with the guys in the group. We also had replicas of props used in the films: one of the copies of Gandalf's sword, Glamdring, and one of Aragorn's sword. I finally relented and joined in on the fun. I have a photo (not on the iPad, unfortunately) of me with Glamdring held high above my head, standing on a rock about to stab a hapless foe on the ground below me. I can be such a ham.

Edoras
Edoras

Before leaving Edoras, our guide pointed out in the distance where Helm's Deep had been created. Unfortunately, most of that set had been miniatures and CGI. Also, the scenery, although stunningly beautiful, did not quite match what we saw in the film because the film had been shot in New Zealand's spring, when all of the surrounding mountains were still covered with snow. At this time of year, only a few glaciated mountains in the far distance still had snow.

After so much fun, so much time almost literally being in fantasy-land, it was difficult returning to "civilization". The transition was made easier with a late champagne brunch at the Mt. Potts Lodge. It was simple fare, but tasty. On the long drive back to Christchurch, our driver played DVDs for us, blooper reels from the LotR trilogy, a documentary about Edoras, and a few other selections. The adventure had taken the entire day, eight hours from door to door. After returning to the B&B, I spent a couple of hours pruning my email inbox; I subscribe to several mailing lists, and if I do not attend to my inbox with regularity, it gets out of hand. After those couple of hours, however, I didn't want to deal with email any longer, so I started on today's entry of my little travel journal. The hour was growing late, and I was growing hungry again, so I decided to take a break and go to dinner before all the nearby restaurants closed. Another restaurant's menu had caught my eye last night, The Coffee House, and that is where I headed.

I ordered a Floating Mountain Sauvignon Blanc. It did not have the bouquet of the Charles Taylor Sauvignon Blanc I had last night, nor did I enjoy the flavor quite as much. Goodness: was I becoming an oenophile? Interestingly, however, after a quite delicious entree of a scallop and ginger tortellini with a tomato and coriander salsa and passion fruit sauce, the wine had a better taste. This fit with what we had been told at the Yealands Winery (Day 11): the taste of a wine can be altered by the foods with which it is consumed. For mains I had herb-crusted portobello mushrooms with caramelised onions and tallegio cheese, topped with a hot and sour salad and gratin potatoes on the side. Delicious! No dessert tonight. Even though The Coffee House was not as upscale as Fiddlesticks, I enjoyed the food more at tonight's restaurant.

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