New Year, New Adventure: Part 7 of 13
The next stop on our visit to New Zealand was Lyttelton, the port serving the city of Christchurch. The port sits in the caldera of one of a cluster of old volcanos. The area was settled by the Maori in the 1200s and then British settlers arrived in 1850. From here we toured Christchurch and out into the western mountains in search of movie sets and The Lord of the Rings.
The settlers built a largely English style city, including a massive cathedral built over 40 years starting in 1864.
That English style city experienced earthquakes throughout its history and was nearly wiped out in 2010 and 2011 when a string of earthquakes toppled the original stone buildings.
Passing through the city in 2026, the city is still coming to terms with the destruction 15 years later. Empty lots still dominated the scene in the central city. Clusters of bland apartment buildings are filling in the spaces.
Some of the old buildings have been preserved, stabilized, or otherwise repurposed. Our short visit to the city was eye-opening with regard to how hard it is to persevere and rebuild after a disaster.
After the pass through Christchurch, our travels took us west across the North Canterbury agricultural region of the South Island in search of the city of Erdoras. The runoff from the western mountains is harness for irrigation and the pivot type irrigators are a common feature of the landscape.
Strong winds are common across New Zealand so wind breaks between fields are a necessity.
The highway heading west crossed several “braided rivers” running down from the mountains. The term refers to a wide and shallow river bed that features many stream paths that weave together. These rivers are prone to flash flooding.
The national Kiwirail railroad runs on 3’6” narrow gauge tracks. (Standard in the US is 4’ 8 1/2”)
On the edge of the “Rohan Kingdom,” the Department of Conservation maintains a recreation area at Lake Clearwater. Along a narrow neck of land between two mountain stream fed lakes, there is a village of rustic holiday cottages. There are specific rules and requirements for maintaining a Bach on DOC land.
A few miles down the road from the Bach community, we crested a ridge and beheld the Kingdom Rohan, or at least the way movie guy Peter Jackson envisioned it for his movie trilogy. Before becoming a movie set, this valley was just for sheep and cattle. 25 years after the films debuted, it is a pilgrimage site for generations of sci-fi/fantasy fandom.
On the rock outcropping in the center of the valley, known locally as Mount Sunday, Peter Jackson’s set builders spent months living rough to build the city of Erdoras. This photo captures the first scene where the heros stop to view the city. The movie was made in the dead of winter to enhance the visuals.
Mount Sunday as it sits now, in the middle of pasture land. A path leads to the top, where the local shepherds used to meet on Sundays. If you haven’t taken the tour of New Zealand that is the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Rohan shows up in the second reel.
Our final stop on this outing was in the tiny crossroads village of Mt. Somers. We had lunch in the War Memorial Hall, a local gathering space opened in 1922 and dedicated to the local ANZAC soldiers who served in WWI. The other non-domicile building in town was the Mt. Somers Tavern. The Family Lounge and Bar also serves as the local Bottle Shop, where you can purchase alcohol in sealed containers for consumption elsewhere.