New Zealand, New Experiences

There are moments in every person's life that are so life altering that every tiny detail is remembered with perfect clarity. These moments can totally change a person for the better or for the worst, depending upon the situation. Personally, I have experienced moments such as these that have impacted my life for the good and the bad. However, recently I have had the privilege of reliving memories that made me into the person that I am today.

I remember, with perfect clarity, the first time that I was introduced to the mythological world of The Lord of the Rings. It was not a world that I was familiar with from young age. I first had contact with this amazing story when I was in the sixth grade. My sister had seen and purchased the Extended Version of The Fellowship of the Ring and showed it to me late one night. We had turned off all the lights in our living room and turned on the surround sound so as to experience the movie holistically. I then plunged into a world of Elves, Men, Dwarves, Hobbits, Wizards, Orcs, and other fell beasts whose sole purpose was to destroy the world of Men. I became infatuated with the main characters and the plot line of the story. I was able to relate to the story on a personal level, which only heightened my fan level. I remember wishing on that first night of viewing that I could just escape to the lands of Middle Earth to live the story of Lord of the Rings.

However, that seemed an impossible dream. I knew that Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth were just a movie and a book, not a real place. However, to completely doubt that I could ever see the places where the sets and crew were assembled was shortsighted of me. After a decade of reading the trilogy, watching the movies, and taking classes about Tolkien and his literary masterpieces, I have been able to make the journey to Middle Earth and back.

Last week, my sister and I took a jet plane ride over to New Zealand in order to tour this literary world. We landed in Christchurch, NZ and began to orient ourselves with the surrounding area. Christchurch has recently experienced severe earthquake activity, so the community is in a state of rebuilding. It was a very humbling sight to behold. My sister and I eventually found a local pizza restaurant for dinner. It was in a rebuilt place of town, but later we discovered that the pizza place, as well as a few other reopened businesses, lay within a two-block square that the city put aside for the new rugby stadium. For this reason the businesses are having to negotiate with the city government to see if they can remain open and be incorporated into the rugby stadium.

The next day was when the journey really began. My sister and I woke early in the morning and got ready for the tour of a lifetime. We donned our jeans, sweaters, and hiking boots and set off to find the elusive realm of Rohan. Hassle-Free Tours, the tour bus that was making this endeavor possible picked us up at 9:00 am and then drove us and the three other members of our tour towards the Southern Alps. We stopped at a local coffee shop and were provided a traditional morning tea to tide us over and provide us with ample energy. From there we headed off road and into the mountains.

In the mountains we were able to take multitudes of picturesque photos of the mountain scenery. The emerald green terrain was dotted with silver rivers running into the valleys of rock. The lakes became perfect mirrors of the mountains doubling the count. The tour was like walking in a dream world. Our tour guide was also full of information, able to tell the group about anything we asked. Finally, as we rounded a crest in the hill, the rock that functioned as Edoras in The Two Towers and The Return of the King grew from the horizon. We closed the distance to the stone hill that was the capitol of Edoras. When we reached the base of the hill, our group began the hike toward the summit. It was a steep climb, but as I walked up the incline I thought about the many famous actors, actresses, directors, producers, and countless other cinema celebrities that had set foot on the exact same group that I then was walking on. 

When we reached the top, our tour guide pointed out specific points where famous scenes had been filmed and different locales of the movie plot. Our guide then described how the set of Edoras was built, how long it took to construct and deconstruct, as well as how long the scenes took to film. The Edoras set took 8 months to construct, 8 days to film, and then was deconstructed in a matter of seconds. The set of Helms Deep was the constructed just across the valley from the Edoras hill. It was all very breathtaking to behold. With mountains surrounding our tour group on all four sides, it felt like I had finally stepped into a literary setting for a short time. My favorite part of the whole trip by far was when our group was descending the hill going back to the 4WD SUV. About half way down the hill, our tour guide stopped my sister and me and asked us in hushed tones, "Do you hear that?" My sister and I stopped speaking and listened carefully to the noise around us. We heard nothing, nothing but the wind and the water making its way down the river. After a few seconds, I said, "I hear nothing. What am I suppose to be listening for?" The tour guide gave us a small smile and said, "Exactly. Nothing. This is the quietest, calmest place I have ever been." I smiled. 

When we made back to the SUV, we had afternoon champagne and lunch. From there, our tour guide drove our group back to our lodgings in the city and said farewell. On the drive back, however, I kept smiling, not because there was anything particularly funny or intriguing, but because of that moment my sister and I got to experience on the hill. Rarely do people get the chance to stop and take a deep breath, but during that moment on the hill, that is exactly what I got to do. In the moment of pure silence, I was able to take a breath look around at all the amazing scenery that surrounded me and be happy that in that moment I was there and alive to experience things as they once were.