With the snowy slopes of Mount Ruapehu behind us, we headed southwards once more. It was a long way though, 440km in all. Our first stop on the way down (because what good is a road trip without stops) was the Rangitikei river gorge. This is one of the four rivers in New Zealand that were used to depict the river Anduin in the LOTR films. We looked down into the gorge from a bridge now used (apart from the obvious) for bungy jumping from. The gorge also sports a zip wire. Not wishing to indulge ourselves we carried on. Some time later, we happenned across the town of Otaki. Nearby, well, 19km down an unpaved road, was the Otaki gorge. It took about 30 minutes to get there from the main road and it was blissfully quiet. We left the car and trotted down to the river bank to take a couple of photos. (The Otaki gorge and surroundings were used when the hobbits left the Shire in Fellowship of the Ring.) Claire told me she would catch me up as I headed back to the car but after a couple of minutes I started to wonder where she was. As I was looking I could here her calling out trying to find me. A humourous game of shouting at each other through the bushes and trees ensued with both of us mis-hearing what the other said. Eventually we managed to find each other and headed towards Wellington again.

There are several ways to reach Wellington. Somehow we managed to take the most indirect and winding route possible and it was dark when we started looking for hostels. Arriving in a new place when it's dak is never fun. It's difficult to get a good feel for where things are and what the place is really like. On that basis I'm not too impressed by Wellington so far. But then we do have a few days here, so it should be good. Some sleep is needed I think. Oh, and while I've been writing this bit and doing some photos, Blade and Blade II have been on in the background. I just wanted to take this opportunity to say what a complete and utter pile of rubbish they are.

The following day, we hit the Hutt. Upper Hutt is a small city just 40 minutes away from Wellington. Close to Upper Hutt are two locations used in Fellowship of the Ring. First of all, we stopped in Upper Hutt itself to drop off some films to be developed and to find some breakfast. Unfortunately, we had woken up too late for the breakfast that the hostel provided and we had no milk for our own breakfast. We then drove out to the supposed location of Rivendell (or some of it anyway). We found the sign directing us to the national park we needed and we found the car park we needed but we could not find the signs to the Rivendell location that our guide book promised us. We did find a ridge walk that we suspected might take us there, so we started up it. "Up" was the operative word as we ended up climbing quite a hill and doubting that we were going the right way. The weather and the need to pick up the photos saved us going too far down the track though. On the way back to the road though, we found a park map and then realised our mistake. There were two roads into the park and we needed the other one. Doh! So, down the other road we went and there were the signs. See...

To be honest, the site is a bit disappointing although it is beautiful there. Only indoor scenes requiring a forest background were filmed here (the wider shots of Rivendell were not) and the sets that were constructed were completely removed. Even if you had seen the film as many times as I know some people have, you would be hard pushed to recognise the location. Still, it was fun finding it.

After picking up Claire's photos, we found our way to Harcourt park, another location. The park was quite small. It had a childrens' playground, lots of trees and it sits on top of a fault line. The Hutt river runs along one edge of the park but used to run through it. Following an earthquake in the 19th century, part of the park rose by 5m and the river was diverted. As for the LOTR location, it seems quite odd really as the park is so small but if you do the thing with you fingers where you make a box and look through it, you can see how it worked. It also helps that there's some evidence left behind. Running straight through a patch of grass you can see where a gravel path was built for Gandalf to ride along with his horse. The path was removed after filming but the turf laid over it must be a slightly different type of grass as you can see the difference. (See the photo page.) The park was also used for filming Gandalf and Saruman talking and for footage of Orcs felling trees. (The trees were specially constructed by the way.)

After we had wandered around the park for a while and Claire had played on the zipwire in the childrens' playground, we headed off and did a little shopping for food. We made supper and saw Thirteen in a small cinema in town. It was very well made, acted, written and directed but I didn't really enjoy it as much as I should have done.

Our next day we spent in Wellington itself. Actually, we spent the whole day in the Te Papa museum. It's one of those places where you can spend the whole day. Lots of geological information, New Zealand history and much more. We left just after 4pm as it was starting to get dark and called in at the cinema again. This time we saw a French film called Monsieur Ibrahim. It may not be to everyone's taste, but I loved it. That was just about it for one day. Catching up on some photos and emails and reading.

Our final day, or part of it, we saw a few more sights in Wellington. After checking out of the hostel, we drove across town and parked near the parliament buildings. There are two main buildings that house the government here. One of them was built quite some time ago and while it doesn't stand out in quite the same way as the Houses of Parliament in London or Capitol Hill in Washington, it does sort of exude a feeling of power. The second building, next door, resembles a beehive. It was built in 1981 and it looks a bit odd in amongst lots of other buildings. Tours of one of the buildings (we're not sure which) run most of the week but not when we were there, so we went elsewhere.

Situated as it is in / on / around lots of hills, it is perhaps unsurprising that Wellington has a cable car. (Actually it resembles a funicular railway, but we'll let that go.) At the top we found some botanical gardens and the Carter observatory. The observatory opened just as we got there and apparently, since it was the last Sunday of the month, entry was just one gold coin. Being the nice people we are, we rummaged around for some $2 coins ($1 coins are also gold coloured) and for a few minutes at least we had the whole place to ourselves. After having a look around and examining an old refractor telescope for a while, we were given a presentation about the stars and constellations in the southern hemisphere. It was well presented and we learned a lot even though we spent quite a long time staring at a dark ceiling where a map of the sky was projected. We now know what the southern cross looks like. Maybe while we're on the south island we'll be able to find it one night.

We walked down from the observatory, back to the car in about 30 minutes and then tried to make our way across the city centre to Mount Victoria, a great vantage point from which most of Wellington can be seen. After stopping to take in the view, we headed along the side of Mount Victoria towards the suburb of Seatoun stopping briefly to look for the location used for the first day of filming for Fellowship of the Ring. Our purpose in going to Seatoun, apart from because we could, was to find some lunch at an establishment called the Chocolate Fish Café. Our directions weren't very comprehensive but after a little while we found the place and it was quite busy. Either because of or in spite of it having been a regular hobbit haunt four years ago, the Chocolate Fish Café is very popular. The quality of the food also probably has something to do with it too. Very yummy. The chocolate fish cake is to die for and had I actually managed to finish it... who knows?

Unfortunately, that was about all the time we had to spend in Wellington. Our three and a half hour ferry journey to the south island awaits us now. (I don't like boats (or ships).) The nice man who issued our tickets described the conditions as "moderate", I'd say "very windy" is more accurate!

In the end, I did like Wellington. It's smaller than Auckland, more crowded and perhaps not as nice to look at but the way it's spread on and around the surrounding hills reminds me a bit of Bath and that's a good thing.