Tour Where the Movies were Filmed in New Zealand

Director, Sir Peter Jackson put New Zealand on the map for movie locations. The film set for The Lord of the Rings has become a major tourist attraction. Travellers flock in droves to check out those little round doors set amidst the green rolling hills of the New Zealand countryside. The uncrowded cities, rugged mountains and pristine coastal landscapes have been a drawcard for movie directors for decades, and rightly so.

While locations like Hobbiton are now a major tourist attraction that many North Island Tours pass through, you won’t see remnants of all the movie sets. Sometimes it’s just enough to know you are near where all the magic happened, or to know why you get déjà vu as you traverse landscapes you haven’t visited before.

Here’s a short list of renowned films you may have seen that were shot in New Zealand. The locations are worth keeping an eye out for on your New Zealand tour, that is, if you are a movie buff.

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Find yourself in the movie set for the Hobbit when you visit the Glowworm Cave and Ruakira Caves at Waitomo. On a sheep farm in Matamata you will find the village of Hobbiton. Explore the extensive set on a guided tour and indulge in an exclusive ale at The Green Dragon Inn. If you are travelling near Taupo keep your eyes peeled for the Tongariro Crossing where the barren landscape was crafted into scenes of Mordor in Lord of the Rings. Mt Victoria in Wellington was used in The Fellowship of the Ring as were various locations near Wellington.

The Weta Workshop

Take a guided tour through The Weta Workshop where the props, costume and special effects were made for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, Avatar and Pete’s Dragon. View and purchase Middle-earth memorabilia at The Weta Cave museum. Search out sculptures made by Weta Studios throughout Wellington, from the huge sculptures of Gollum catching fish in Wellington Airport to the spider-like robot on Courtenay Street.

Wolverine

If you are a fan of Hugh Jackman and the Wolverine movies you will be able to scout out familiar locations as you tour the South Island. Although not filmed entirely in New Zealand some key scenes for the film are set in beauty spots on the tourist map of New Zealand’s South Island. Locations included Stirling Falls in Milford Sound and the ranges above Queenstown and the valleys of Glenorchy. The stunning landscape of Elephant Rocks near Duntroon in North Otago is also captured in this film.

The Piano

Who can forget the moving performances of The Piano, with New Zealand’s own Sam Neill. Not far from Auckland you can visit the beaches where The Piano was filmed. Beautiful Kare Kare Beach, 15 kilometres from Auckland, is the location where the abandoned piano was filmed. Farm scenes were filmed in Matakana, near Warkworth, 40 kilometres north of Auckland and Awakino, near Hamilton. The poignant underwater scenes were filmed in the warmer water of the Bay of Islands.

Pete's Dragon

Disney’s enchanting children’s story Pete’s Dragon was filmed in various locations on both islands. Redwoods Forest in Rotorua is the location where the forest scenes were captured. Take a treewalk or night walk through the forest. In the South Island travel to Queenstown, The Remarkables and onward to Glenorchy to find Paradise, where many of the scenes of the dragon in flight were filmed. Further south in the Otago region, the small fishing town of Tapanui was transformed into the movie’s township.

Tales of Narnia

If your tour takes you to the Coromandel Peninsula you will recognise Cathedral Cove as a beauty spot that featured in the Chronicles of Narnia. A popular place to hike or mountain bike north of Auckland, Woodhill Forest, is the setting for the camp of the White Witch. As you travel from Greymouth to Christchurch along Arthurs Pass Highway you will pass by Flock Hill, the scene of the great battle. The intriguing outcrops of limestone and rocks that is Elephant Rocks, near Duntroon is another location, as were the hills above Queenstown.