Forth Eorlingas!

A rushed breakfast this morning as I was a little late, and then straight on down to meet Priscilla, the land-owner of the property used for Pelennor Fields.

After some information about the shoot, we took some photos and walked up the hill to where the Rohirrim charged down. There were many reenactments.

Afterwards, a sneaky stop for a couple of river photos.

We continued on to our next location, one of the farms situated on the side of Lake Pukaki, which was used for the Laketown location. We met the eccentric owner, Ian, who waited until we had all gathered outside of the coach, before bursting out of a wooden cabinet nearby and firing some sort of cannon to launch a shoe into the air (I called the cabinet by the way – the shoe-cannon I did not expect).

He gave us a brief history of his family and how they came to own the farm, and his father’s story through World War 2 (which had so many crazy details that he just brushed over). Then he gave us a small tour of his farm and workshop, where he makes ridiculous things.

We watched a couple of scenes from The Hobbit, where the Laketown refugees washed up on the shores after Smaug’s attack, since we would soon be walking down to that location. We then had a short archery session, and were all pretty mediocre.

Lastly, we boarded a ridiculous truck and drove over to the lake. The seats in the back are cinema seats, if you were wondering.

The lake itself though is absolutely stunning, with glacial-blue water, stretched out for miles, and snow-capped mountains all the way down. Again, it’s hard to capture these things in photos, but I did try.

Sadly, we had to leave, and headed back along the dusty road, making our way to our lunch stop, though having a quick bathroom break nearby, which gave us another sneaky photo opportunity.

Then it was off towards Cromwell, where we’re staying the night. One last stop before the hotel at Mrs. Jones’ Orchard, where they had fresh fruit tasting and fresh fruit ice cream, both of which were great. There were some gardens there too which were nice to walk through.

I ran into the group in the hotel bar on my way to find dinner and joined them for the night. They had ordered too much food so I was able to scavenge a meal! Thanks Martijn! We have an early start tomorrow for a big day. Exhaustion is starting to catch up with me. I think I’ll be sleeping deeply tomorrow night.