Back from hiatus

It's been a busy few months. I haven't managed to get a lot of blogging done lately, only a few facebook and twitter updates. We've had a few birthdays here at home, and we've had other family staying with us, which always take precedence.

At work, our busy cruiseship touring season has begun again. By the time I come home from a full day tour, I'm usually pretty bushed, and my online activities are generally restricted to be read-only.

In all honesty though, there hasn't been that much to report. The Hobbit production is in full swing but none of it seems to be here in Wellington at the moment - Peter Jackson's various film teams have left Wellywood, and have headed further north and further south. I've seen the occasional celebrity in town but generally they were already reported by other sources.


I don't mean to imply that I've been sitting still - far from it! I've been working on a myriad of LOTR related projects, some for my own pleasure, some for work, and some for the online community. I'll try to get some of the projects online, as soon as I can (or in some cases, as soon as the cloak of secrecy comes off them).

I've also formed a very exciting alliance with fairly new forum - Middle-earth Network. I joined them a few months ago, and it looks like I'm in great company - people like the wellknown artists Ted Nasmith and Jef Murray, and the Tolkien Professor Corey Olsen. Frankly I feel like a hobbit at an Elven dinner party! Still, any excuse for a banquet...

The Middle-earth News/NZ Noldor alliance means I'll have some better resources behind me to get on with some very exciting LOTR related projects - some of which are already underway. I hope to have some announcements about some of them soon - patience!

What I will also report a bit more often, is reports from the field that are not necessarily Hobbit related, but more general stuff. Earlier this year another tree blew over in Isengard (Upper Hutt's Harcourt Park), unfortunately it was a "reference" tree (ie, it appeared in FOTR).

It's been replaced by two new young ones. If there's call for more reports like that, let me know - I'll pop some photos on a bit more often.

Also, is it time for another Welly-moot? I'm keen! Anyone else? Drop me a comment, here or on Facebook!

  - Jack

The Hobbit location in Upper Hutt's Harcourt Park?

This just in - I've just heard from a very reliable source that Upper Hutt will be overrun by a large film crew, come February 2010. My source mentioned it would probably be in the vicinity of Harcourt Park, which was of course the location for the gardens of Isengard, where Gandalf arrives on his horse and tells Saruman that he's found the One Ring.

Harcourt Park is a very green park full of grass, trees and shrubs, and was primarily used in LOTR to give Isengard a "cultured, English garden" look. I'm having a hard time picturing it as anything other than Isengard. The only Hobbit location I can think of would be Beorn's house, but that's just speculation, of course.

Technically, Isengard doesn't appear in The Hobbit book, although if the script includes the White Council sequences as widely reported, then we may yet see a return to the tower of Orthanc during the time that Saruman is still a good guy.

There is another possibility - Upper Hutt was also used for various river locations, notably the River Anduin and the scene where Brego rescues Aragorn from the (unnamed) Middle-earth river. There are a few rivers in The Hobbit story, so it might be a completely different location altogether.


If the crew arrives as early as February, they must be building quite a significant filmset, given that Peter Jackson has just announced that filming won't begin until mid 2010. To put that in perspective - Rivendell took almost three months to build, and Edoras took almost eight months. Helms Deep and Minas Tirith took about two months each. If they start building in Upper Hutt in February, and filming doesn't begin until June, that might be quite a major set by the time they're done!


Anyone have any thoughts? Please leave them below!

- Jack M.

LOTR 10th Anniversary, Day One of filming

fter all the discussions I had with the various "official" organisations, the huge 10th anniversary I had hoped for didn't end up eventuating. So instead, a few of us got together for a lovely hobbit afternoon tea (assuming hobbits would eat pizza, that is).

My good friend Brian Reeve called me a week beforehand and announced that since nothing else seemed to be happening, the day should be celebrated in a less formal setting instead, so he graciously offered his Upper Hutt residence for the event. Brian often gives off quite the hobbit vibe, something confirmed by the "Bag End" sign on the side of the house.

 Brian Reeve

I had emailed a few local people who'd been in touch with me in the previous weeks/months about this, and we all headed over there for a beautiful afternoon. Everyone shared a common interest in Lord Of The Rings, and in Wellington in particular. Grant found me through this blog, Erica is one of the good folks over at TORn, and Tyellas is a Tolkien based fan-fiction author I met a few months ago. Erica brought her husband Thomas and baby Charlie the resident hobbit, and of course Brian's wife suzie and son Harrison were there as well - all excellent people.

 Josh, Grant, Jack, Erica, Aiko and Tyellas. (Photo by Brian)

The weather fined up unexpectedly, and towards the end of the afternoon we took in a local LOTR sight/site - Harcourt Park, or The Gardens Of Isengard. It so "happened" that I'd taken the precaution on bringing my tour material with me, so I took everyone around the gardens where Gandalf met with Saruman to discuss what should happen to The One Ring.



All in all, a fun day after all. Especially the lunch was great - a big thanks to Erica who baked her world famous 6 minute Chocolate Cake, to Grant who brought a fine drop of wine (which, me being the driver, I always miss out on!), to Tyellas who brought the healthy fruit option, to Aiko who baked her amazing Apple Crumble, and most of all to Brian and Susie who, apart from providing the venue, outdid themselves with the excellent homemade Pizzas.

From now on there will be a number of 10th anniversaries - last day of filming, release of the three movies (one after the other), etc. Let's see how many hobbit afternoons we'll be able to set up!

As an aside, I heard of a few other cities with their own celebrations - New York had one I believe, and somewhere in India, one of my readers known as Eorl the Young organised one as well?

Did anyone else do anything? Leave me a comment here!

  - Jack M.