New Terrain in LOTR Films

[webmouse]

Ah, New Zealand! Isn't it great to see scenery that doesn't look like British Columbia?

[Dave]

Fancy a trip to Rivendell this summer?

Scifi Wire -- Tourists Seek Middle-earth

Tourists have been trying to book passage to destinations in Middle-earth, apparently not realizing it's the fictional setting of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Staff members at the Yahoo! Travel Web site told the newspaper that places featured in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films and Tolkien's books, such as Mordor and Rivendell, have become popular search terms on the site.

"Personally I'd never want to go to Mordor. The film's real location, New Zealand, on the other hand, is a truly magical place," Yahoo.co.uk travel producer Morgan Williams told the Herald.

Scenes of Mordor in Jackson's movies were filmed in New Zealand's Tongariro National Park, Kaitoke Regional Park stood in for Rivendell and the Southern Alps on the New Zealand's South Island doubled for the Misty Mountains.

[webmouse]

In the States, we've gotten used to everything on TV and film looking like Canada. Even all the shots of "Washington, DC" are mostly of Toronto or Vancouver. It really is nice to see some other -- and very magnificent -- scenery. New Zealand seems to have a bit of everything.