fall break fun and Tour de Rings!

Fall (yes, fall) break is winding down, so it is time to post! I had an amazing time traveling around the South Island with my parents, and took hundreds of pictures. So here we go!

My 21st birthday morning, also Easter! Here I am with my parents leaving Lake Tekapo. The water really is that color.

Here I am at at the Hermitage Hotel in the Mt Cook National Park. Southern Alps, aka the Misty Mountains in The Lord of the Rings films in the background.

On the drive to Queenstown, we passed a little town called Twizel. Not much there, but it was the location of the Pelennor Fields in The Lord of the Rings!

Here is the road between Queenstown and Glenorchy, and then Paradise. It really does look like paradise.

I took a trail ride through some Lord of the Rings locations in Paradise Station. It was a bit drizzly, but gorgeous! This shot is of the mountains surrounding Isengard, and is also a location in the upcoming Wolverine film.

The mountains surrounding Isengard again...trying to hide behind some mist.

The woods of Paradise Station were used for both Lothlorien and Amon Hen in The Lord of the Rings as well as the forest in the beginning of Prince Caspian where he falls off his horse. This spot is where Boromir died in The Fellowship of the Ring.

And here are the edges of Fangorn Forest, where Treebeard comes out of the woods to see that the orcs have cut and burnt down part of it. Now it is just cows, no ents.

And last but not least, a shot from the long drive through the highlands of central Otago back to Dunedin. See the old mining shed?

Wow, this is a loooong post, mostly pictures. Back to classes on Monday!