Harry Potter Tour

In 2009 I decided it was time to return to England. I had not been there in ten years and it was time to go back and see what lay beyond London. That said, I did want to spend a few days in London and that is why I decided to research filming locations for the Harry Potter movies and create my own Harry Potter tour.

At the time, filming was taking place at Leavesden Studios, just outside of London, for the final Harry Potter film. I could have gone and stood outside the fence, but that seemed like a waste of time to me. Now, since March 2012, tours of Leavesden Studios are available to the public. I hope to return one day and do a tour.   http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/

After spending four days in London doing and seeing everything I missed the first time, I started the Harry Potter portion of my trip. First stop - Gloucester Cathedral. Scenes from the first film and more recently Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince were filmed at the cathedral. I had booked a tour before leaving Canada, but was disappointed when I arrived to find that I knew more about the books and movies than my guide. I even pointed out an area where scenes were filmed from HP6 when he failed to notice. Not exactly the best tour, but I am glad I went and it was an interesting historical tour of the cathedral anyway.

Gloucester Cathedral - Scenes from Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone were filmed here.

After that I went to Bath. A day tour from Bath took me to Lacock National Trust Village, a historical site in England. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock/  The house from the first film, in which Harry and his parents lived in when he was little, where his mother died for him, is located in Lacock Village. Also, the house where Harry and Dumbledore meet Professor Slughorn is in the Village.

Harry Potter House from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

My last stop was Oxford, specifically Christ Church College. This is where the Hogwarts stairs are. The scene from the first film where Harry meets Malfoy were shot in Christ Church College on the marble staircase leading to the Great Hall. Also, the Great Hall in Christ Church College was the inspiration for the Great Hall set at Leavesden Studios. Tours start at 12:00 noon.

~Angie

Lost & Found in Bath

"Not all those who wander are lost." ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

I tend to get lost when I travel. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident. One place where it is very easy to get lost by accident is Bath, England. In North America, our towns and cities are designed on a square grid that is easy to follow. Bath is another matter entirely.

The roads follow no set design, they twist and turn and to add to the confusion, there are traffic circles! One famous traffic circle in Bath is the Circus. Just beyond the Circus is the Royal Palace on the Royal Crescent. 

On a map, these roads look like a question mark. After that though, the roads flow off in various directions and it is very confusing. I had to find landmarks to have a vague idea of where I was and how to get back to my hostel!

Royal Palace

The Roman Bath Houses are a good landmark for reference. These are located in the centre of the main tourist area of Bath and they have the famous Thermae Bath Spa located above. Tourists can rent audio devices so that they can tour the bath houses at their own speed and not miss anything about the history of the Roman Baths. (www.romanbaths.co.uk)

Roman Bath House

~Angie

'Lord of the Rings' Tour in Wellington, NZ

“Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.
You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” ~J.R.R. Tolkien

Wellington, New Zealand is where Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor live and work.  Richard Taylor owns and runs Weta Workshop and Weta Digital. I took a Lord of the Rings tour of Wellington and the surrounding area. It was a very good tour, both for the fan in me, but also of the city itself and the area around Wellington.

We started where the movies were first filmed - at Mount Victoria. This is a large hill (not a mountain by my standards) that has forests and lots of pathways. This is a public area, which caused a few problems while the movies were filming. We went to the spot where the hobbits fall off the cliff onto the path after being chased by the farmer through the Shire. This is where the "Get off the path!" scene and the woods before the ferry were filmed. The scenes of the hobbits' first encounter with a Black Rider.

The spot where the Black Rider stood on Mount Victoria

No special effects other than a smoke machine for extra atmosphere were needed for those scenes. The woods were originally cut down by the British and subsequently replanted once they realized that the ground was prone to land slides. Therefore, the trees are not native New Zealand trees anymore and were planted too close together, thus becoming the scary trees that stand there today.

We went up the east coast, very beautiful coastline, to the Miramar peninsula where Peter Jackson lives, and the film studios and Weta Workshop are located. We drove by Peter Jackson's house, which is right off the main road with views of the beach. All windows were open, no blinds and some days the tourists can actually see him there barbequeing or sitting in his living room. Kiwi's leave him alone out of respect for what he has done for the country, so no one takes photos or anything. He has lived in that house for 25 years. It was a nice house, but not really huge like you would see in L.A.

We had "second breakfast" at the Scorch-o-Rama cafe, where the cast and crew ate quite a bit while filming. It is a really cool cafe that has seating across the road overlooking the sea. The waitresses cross the road to deliver the food.

Then we went to Weta Cave. This is a museum and gift shop beside Weta Workshop that has props made in the movies by Weta Workshop. Movies include: Lord of the Rings, King Kong, and the Chronicles of Narnia. Weta Digital is another branch specializing in digital special effects whose most recent film was Avatar. It was neat to see the actual puppet of Frodo used when Arwen saved him from the Nazgul and crossed the river to take him to Rivendell. Also, there were the swords, including Frodo's sword Sting, life size figures of the Urukai and a figure of Gollum. The rest of the Weta Cave held replicas that you could buy, quite expensive because they were made by the actual artists who worked on the films. For example, the One Ring is about $600. Would be cool to have, but I don't need it that much! They also had Frodo and Sam's hobbit ears, for $50 because they are made from the actual mold of Elijah Wood and Sean Astin's ears and are exactly the same molds that were used in the films. At the end we watched a behind the scenes film of Weta Workshop. It would be a really cool place to work!

"Gollum" at Weta Cave

We drove past a post production company that looks from the outside like it could be a group of condos or a hotel. This post production place was created by Peter Jackson and has changed the New Zealand film industry because now big budget films can be made right in Wellington, not outsourced overseas. We also went by Peter Jackson's movie studios and lot. It is small compared to those in Hollywood. Lord of the Rings and King Kong were filmed there.

Then we went outside the city to a regional park called Kaitoko. This is where the Rivendell scenes were filmed. It is very pretty and has a temperate rainforest that we also took a walk through. There is a fern in New Zealand that goes silver in moonlight, or by the flash of a camera. This is New Zealand's national symbol. It was neat to take photos of this silver fern because it does show up silver on the camera.

I had mentioned when the tour started that Elijah Wood was the reason I watched The Lord of the Rings in the first place - I went to the movie because he was in it. So, while in Kaitoko Regional Park, my guide told me to stand amongst a group of trees in a specific spot. I was wondering why I was standing there when he said: "You are standing in Frodo's bedroom." It's amazing how the sets were built and set up in such a small area!

In Kaitoko Regional Park, this is "Frodo's Bedroom"

We went to Harcourt Park, in Upper Hutt, where the garden scenes of Isengard were shot, and the quarry where Helms Deep and the city of Minas Tirith were shot. My guide was an extra for an elf in the Helms Deep scenes. One guy on my tour was a hobbit extra in Hobbiton too. It was great to hear behind the scenes stories from them.

For information on the Wellington 'Lord of the Rings' Tour, go to:

http://www.wellingtonrover.co.nz/


~Angie

The Great Barrier Reef

Coral in the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is so amazing, I snorkeled it twice! The first time I went to the Southern Great Barrier Reef, out of Airlie Beach. It was really neat to see the coral. I was a bit scared, though, because the waves were really strong out in the ocean like that.

The second time I went, it was out of Cairns. This was better. The water is clearer in the Northern Great Barrier Reef. My tour took us to two different places. The first was Michaelmas Cay (http://www.cairnsattractions.com.au/michaelmas-cay.php). This was really cool. It is another world under the sea. Very peaceful. It is really neat to see all the fish. I saw lots of different types of colourful fish, and the coral is so pretty! Michaelmas Cay is a bird sanctuary, so when I put my head above water, it was like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds". It was very noisy above water! The second place the tour took us to was again, out in the middle of the ocean. Again, I did not like swimming there, so I went for a little while, but probably could have stayed out longer. The fish and coral were amazing to see.

Fish in the Great Barrier Reef

Coral in the Great Barrier Reef

~Angie