Helm's Deep

The sun shone on us today although it is definitely cooler than when we were in the north. We had a lazier get up, did the laundry and then headed downtown for a cuppa before the six wheeler arrived from No-Hassle tours, driven by Simon, to take us into the Southern Alps and to Mt Sunday, otherwise known as Edoras in Lord of the Rings.
The drive in to the mountains was spectacular and became even more so when we turned on to the gravel track which was ideal for the 4WD. We stopped at the very beautiful Clearwater Lake for some photos before heading in to the valley and our first glimpse of the very familiar hill that is Mt Sunday, even without the Golden Hall of King Theoden on its crest. Simon told us that it isn't a mountain but is so named because the local guys would mount up and ride out there on a Sunday. If I lived here I would do that too! In our No-Hassle bus we were then able to do some serious off roading through streams and along very rough track until we reached the spur at the end of the hill and walked up to the top to incredible views (remember Eowyn running away from Wormtongue and out of the Hall to look out and see the riders just as the flag of Rohirrim tore loose and blew away?) That was our view! We could also see down into the cleft in the hills which Jackson used as his long shots for Helm's Deep, which you can see on my blip. After lots of photos with various LOTR props and the flag, we descended back to our bus for lunch and pleasant chat with the half dozen other folks on our tour, and some entertaining stories from Patrick the cruise entertainer, then it was back to Methven.
Another smashing day here in New Zealand!