Wanganui - a bit off the beaten track

Hello again!

Rivendell!

We left Wellington and passed through the Upper Hutt area. There is not much to see in the area and we were generally just passing through. I however, armed with my trusty Lord of the Ring location guide book, was on the hunt for filming locations! There were three locations used within Upper Hutt for the movie trilogy. We searched out the location for Rivendell, in the beautiful Kaitoke Regional Park. After a quick stop off in the nearby Harcourt Park (used in the Fellowship of the Ring for the Gardens of Isengard scenes) it was onto Wanganui, where we are now. Wanganui is a provincial town rich in both Maori and European history. The town abounds with historic buildings, preserved from the early days of European settlement, along with beautiful parks and gardens. The Whanganui River flows from one of New Zealand's highest volcanoes, Mount Tongariro (in the Tongariro National Park further north which we will get to in a few days), through the spectacular Whanganui National Park, to the town.

Wanganui

We're leaving here as soon as I'm finished this and heading north to Ohakune, a skiing village on the slops of Mount Ruapehu, one of the 3 volcanoes which make up the Tongariro National Park, which dominates the centre of the north island. We have a flight to Fiji in 7 days time so our time is running short. Still so much more to see!

Later

Dave and B