Musings from Middle Earth (3)

The Perils of Middle Earth

We slept three nights at Isengard and there we survived the last dying breath of a cyclone. Actually, the campground where we were staying near Upper Hutt is where Isengard in the Lord of the Rings was filmed.

We met with trolls

And encountered Gollum at Weta Cave.

And we saw an orc at Te Papa Tongarewa, the National Museum.

But there is goodness still to be found in Middle Earth. Gandalf the Good

was at the Wellington Information office to point us toward Rivendell

Plaque in the forest near Upper Hutt where Rivendell was shot

Which was also filmed near Upper Hutt.

And nothing yet remains of the Battle of Helms Deep except an old stone quarry.

On our way to Hobbiton, we passed Mount Doom, mysterious and always shrouded in mist.

Actually the volcano, Mount Ruapehu at

Tongariro National Park

(To be continued)