After our epic day in Milford Sound, we got up early, filled up on delicious coffee once again from Milford Road Merchant, and hit the highway to Queenstown — and beyond.

We had set our sights on a couple of Lord of the Rings filming locations in the valleys beyond Glenorchy. The small village of Glenorchy lies at the far end of Lake Wakatipu, which it shares with Queenstown. We had accommodation booked in Queenstown for the night.

The Orc Mound

The weather was once again stunning — blue skies and sunshine all day. Our first stop was several long miles up a gravel road from Centre Hill, heading up the valley towards Mavora, to find the location of the Orc Mound — where Merry and Pippin escaped from the Uruk-hai into Fangorn Forest, and where the unforgettable shot of the Uruk-hai head on a pike was filmed.

When we reached what we thought was the spot, there was no cell service, so our maps didn’t work, and we weren’t entirely sure if we were in the right place. We took a few photos, and Ørjan snapped one last shot — in what we thought was the wrong direction — before heading back to the main road towards Queenstown. It wasn’t until later that evening, when we looked through the photos, that we realized the last picture had actually been taken in the right direction. We’d been looking the wrong way the whole time!

The Road to Queenstown

We continued on to Mossburn, turned left towards Kingston, and soon met the majestic Lake Wakatipu. We stopped for lunch at the spectacular Devil’s Staircase Lookout Point, pondering why exactly the devil would need a staircase. The view was incredible, the lunch was perfect, and the road rolled on for glorious miles towards Queenstown.

After passing through the outskirts of town, we drove by the Ithilien Lookout and rounded a corner that opened up sweeping views across the lake towards Pikirakatahi / Mount Earnslaw — a truly breathtaking sight!

Isengard and Lothlórien

We passed through Glenorchy and continued towards the Isengard Lookout. The best view is from the bridge across the Dart River — you’ll need a bit of imagination, but the scenery up the river’s rocky banks is fantastic.

We then backtracked slightly and headed up the Road to Paradise, perhaps one of the roughest roads we drove in all of New Zealand. Still, it was a very cool drive past farms and grazing cows on the way to the Lothlórien and Paradise filming areas.

Beyond Paradise, we continued towards Dan’s Paddock, where Gandalf’s Approach to Isengard was filmed. Unfortunately, a flooded road blocked our way, and we decided not to risk our very high car deposit for a few Instagram-worthy shots. We’d already had plenty of adventure for one day, so we turned back towards Glenorchy.

In Glenorchy, we treated ourselves to ice cream, browsed a few shops, and lingered for a while before heading back to Queenstown for the evening.

Queenstown

We stayed the night at the Heartland Hotel, and that cider in the sun after a long day was the tastiest ever!

It felt strange revisiting a town we’d last seen in 1997 and 2005 — the change, especially along the waterfront, was immense. The number of people was staggering, and the fact that there’s now a Louis Vuitton store says a lot about how Queenstown’s backpacker vibe has evolved. It’s still the adventure capital of New Zealand, but not quite as we remembered it.

We had no plans for bungee jumping, cable cars, or paragliding — just some quiet food and drinks before crashing into bed, right as the nightclubs started hopping.

Thank you, and good night!