When you are planning your next get-a-way to a remote location in the South Pacific, you have more choices that you can count. So, how do you choose? Well, if you are a film buff, or a Lord of the Rings Trilogy fan, and you sat in awe at the breathtaking scenery that surrounded the actors, then look no further than New Zealand for your next vacation.



Located at the most western tip of the Polynesian Triangle of islands, and Australia's next door neighbor, New Zealand is the perfect place to explore beautiful forests, soft sandy beaches, and create some wonderful vacation memories that will last a lifetime. New Zealand has also become home to some of the highest-grossing films of the decade, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Each one of the movies in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, were all shot on location here in New Zealand. This island paradise was chosen for its lush forests and rolling hills, the wastelands of the volcanic fields, and even the snowy, icy mountain tops set on top of the abandoned mines. The director specifically chose the island of New Zealand for all of these locations set on one magnificent island. And, if you enjoyed the movies and the scenery, you can now visit these beautiful places for yourself.

So many different sites were used all over the island of New Zealand, that the director even filmed in some of the conservation areas and national parks to find some of the most beautiful, untouched land possible. Although there were special problems that found the filmmakers in these locations, they were all over come to create the movies that you know and love.

You can visit the Elvin city of Rivendell, with its breathtaking waterfalls and crystal clear streams in one of the conservation sites on New Zealand. Not many people know that none of the water was added to the waterfalls or streams during the movie, but the waterfalls and streams were put on a closed system so that no water would escape and they would always be full for shooting the scenes. If there were plants that had to be moved, a conservation group helped move them to a special greenhouse where they were cared for and taken care of until the filming was complete and they were replanted. The filmmakers even laid down thousands of yards of carpeting to keep the footprints and hooves from scaring the landscape when there was a battle scene that needed to be shot.

While visiting New Zealand, you can visit the same sites where the movies were filmed, but you might not even know that they were ever there due to the amazing care that the filmmakers and cast showed to the landscape while filming. So, when you visit, the scenery will be every bit as wonderful as it was on the movies. There are even tours that have sprung up to take you to the very spots where the movies were filmed so you can stand in the exact spots where some of your favorite actors and actresses stood. You can find these tours, or create your own, through New Zealand's Tourism Centers and create a unique adventure that will last a lifetime.