Mavora Lakes and Mararoa River

"Two hobbits lay here...thrashing about...

what were they doing?"

Other Side of the Swingbridge (from which shot was taken)
was the Departure from Lothlorien; the Left Side of the
Lake, the Route to Mordor, the Right Side, the Site of Frodo
and Sam's Departure at the End of FOTR

Hiding from Uruk-hai

The Log Under Which Merry and Pip Hid from the Uruk-hai

The Ranger Who Gave Us Directions

The major LOTR sites of the day were at the Mavora Lakes and Mararoa River, 40km from Mossburn, itself pretty well removed from anything except sheep ranches. (We have concluded that a “burn,” as in “Mossburn” or “Routeburn,” is a creek or river). Around the lakes and the river were perhaps the richest collection of LOTR sites we have yet seen. The sites all had to do with the dissolution of the Fellowship, the departure from Lothlorien, the Uruk-hai attack on the band, the capture of Merry and Pippin, and Frodo and Sam's escape. Also nearby were the site of the Riders of Rohan attack on the Uruk-hai, where they burned the corpses, where Viggo Mortensen broke his toe, where Merry and Pippin escaped into Fangorn Forest, and the Forest itself.

Not a bad day's Ringer work, aided, as always, by Ian Brodie's guidebook of LOTR sites. Brodie's book is indispensable, if exasperating at times. A typical description would go like this. “The site is located on a farm road between Auckland and Queenstown. Please shut the gate after entering. Drive another 10-50km, then turn onto a paddock bordered by trees. The site will be immediately recognizable. Behind the bush is where Elijah Wood lost his third set of hobbit feet.” We found the stump (actually a log) under which Merry and Pippin hid in the forest from the Uruk-hai only through the kindness of some nearby campers. A ranger's directions had proven unfruitful—he seemed not to have high regard for Ringers—although his advice did afford us a nice mid-day hike around part of the north lake.

In fairness, I should add that Brodie provides GPS coordinates for all the sites, and such coordinates and the ability to find them would be nearly as indispensable at the book itself. Months ago we decided not to invest in GPS technology for our Asia/Pacific trip. It would have been useless in Asia and one more heavy valuable to lug around and guard. There have been days here in NZ when we wish we had done otherwise. But by and large it's been feasible and perhaps even more fun “the old fashioned way.”