Hey everyone! Lauren here to tell you about our time in the Tongariro National Park. Most of what we did was go to various Lord of the Rings filming locations, since we are both such big fans of the movies. In one day, we visited three filming locations around Tongariro. We even had time to hike around the beautiful Taranaki Falls and have high tea at the Chateau Tongariro!
Tawhai Falls/Gollum's Pool
We began our day with a stop by Tawhai Falls. The falls are also known as Gollum's Pool, since this is where he sings his “catch a fish” song in The Two Towers!! The walk is very short and easy, and it took us maybe 5-10 minutes to get to the waterfall.
The waterfall is beautiful! I spent time practicing how to get “the perfect waterfall picture,” since there weren’t many people at the falls. Tawhai Falls is only 13 meters high, which I thought looked much taller in the movie! The filming crew definitely took advantage of the filming angle when the scene was filmed, but you could definitely picture it! Apparently you are even allowed to swim in the water, but it was freezing.
Whakapapa Ski Resort/Mordor
Next, we headed to Mordor. Many of the Mordor scenes were filmed in the Whakapapa Ski Resort. Our Airbnb host Keith told us they were doing construction and many of the trails would be closed, but we decided to check it out anyway.
The Whakapapa Ski Resort is right under Mt Ruapehu, which is the largest active volcano in New Zealand! There was definitely construction, but they had a few detour walks open around the resort! We did the detour walk around Mead’s Wall, which luckily for us is where many of the Mordor scenes were filmed!
There wasn’t really a strict trail to follow, but there were markers set up which went near some of the ski lifts. The entire walk you could picture Mordor! The scenery was incredible, and we were the only people that decided to do the walk, so we had the trail to ourselves.
I’m sure it was greener and less scary than being in the real Mordor.
Taranaki Falls
After exploring Mordor, we headed to the Tongariro National Park visitors center. There, we found a short to moderate length trail for Taranaki Falls. The trail was within walking distance of the visitors center, and Gerrod and I decided to check it out!
The hike took us about 2 hours, and the mountain and river views along the hike were incredible. Taranaki Falls were very high, and you could even look down the falls from the top!
High Tea
After our hike at Taranaki Falls, Gerrod and I decided to have high tea at Chateau Tongariro, as suggested by our Airbnb host. We weren’t quite sure where high tea was, so we accidentally went to a totally different cafe before realizing they had no high tea on the menu.
Eventually we found our way to the Ruapehu Lounge, and asked at the lounge bar about high tea. Online, it suggested booking ahead, but it didn’t seem too busy. Luckily, we were in the right place, and were soon led to a fancy table in front of a big window with a beautiful view of Mt. Ngauruhoe, aka Mt. Doom!
High tea was 32 NZD per person, and came with finger foods and desserts, and an entire pot of tea each. I ordered a black tea called Paris Black, and Gerrod had a white tea called Chinese Silver Needle. Both teas and all of the various foods were delicious, and we both definitely felt super fancy (and maybe a little out of place).
Mangawhero Falls
After our high tea, we headed south to see more of the park and see another Lord of the Rings filming location. The last location we planned to visit was called Mangawhero Falls, and was near a town called Ohakune. The Mangawhero Falls was a short walk, and this filming location was very easy to picture.
Just upstream from the falls is the actual filming location in the Mangawhero River. It is the scene where Gollum slips and slides through the stream in Ithilien while trying to catch a fish. We both remembered the scene from the movie very clearly, since it was featured in the appendices. Andy Serkis, the actor that plays Gollum nearly slid off the waterfall every take while filming the scene!
End of the Day
After seeing Mangawhero Falls, we headed back to Turangi. By the time we got there it was nearly 6pm and we were both so hungry! We stopped to get some dinner at a local restaurant before heading back to our Airbnb.
Tongariro National Park is absolutely beautiful. There are definitely many more trails and sites to see in the area, including one of New Zealand’s great walks. Since Gerrod and I are both big fans of Lord of the Rings, it was incredible to see the filming locations up close. Middle Earth… errr I mean New Zealand is beautiful!
Until next time!
Lauren (and Gerrod)
