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Cantering through Glenorchy and Paradise
Today was all about the scenery of the Queenstown area. I woke up at 6:30am and grabbed a quick breakfast before catching a shuttle to Glenorchy. My day was to be spent on horseback in the Glenorchy/Paradise area.
The trip to Glenorchy took about 45 minutes by van and the views of Lake Wakatipu were spectacular! The morning sky was a bit overcast, but the views were still amazing. We past by a few areas that were used in the filming of the Lord of the Rings (first of many for the day) and eventually we arrived at the stables. Here, I met my first horse of the day, Charleston. I don’t know what kind of horse he was other than he was brown and full of energy. I may have suggested that I was a bit more experienced with horseback riding than I actually am. However, I think that probably worked out in my favor by the end of the day anyhow – haha.
Meagan, our tour guide was great! She led the 5 of us on the trip that included crossing several streams that were probably 2 – 3 feet deep (that was fun to do on the horse!). I really can’t even begin to describe the awesomeness of the scenery. We were essentially in a valley (owned by the Queen of England) with several small streams that all fed into Lake Wakatipu. Because the valley was carved out by a glacier, the streams change course all the time, so it is always a different environment for these rides. There were some paths to follow, but we spent most of the ride making our own trails. On the one side was a mountain range that was featured in the Lord of the Rings. I believe they were called the Misty Mountains in the movie and they led toward the Gates of Isengard.
The most amazing part of the morning was cantering the horses through the valley. Prior to this morning, I had never cantered a horse before. Though I am sure that my riding would never win a ribbon at a show, I think I managed to do okay! (at least I felt in rhythm, felt comfortable, and felt confident enough that I could really look around and enjoy the scenery as we went) Personally, this is what I think horseback riding should be – going fast in a crazy beautiful place. You could tell (throughout the walking parts of the ride) that the horses just wanted to go. So, it didn’t take much to kick things into 3rd gear and get moving. I wish I could better describe the feeling of moving that fast with such a large animal with unbelievably amazing scenery all around.
Eventually, we returned to the stables after an amazing ride and I went to downtown Glenorchy. The town’s population is only about 230 people (possibly smaller than Lynchburg, TN). Nonetheless, I had a good recommendation from Meagan as to a great café. I had lunch with Meagan and the other girl who was working at the stables (I didn’t catch her name). It was fun to talk to them about living in Queenstown and all of their experiences. Meagan was born and grew up in Nevada before moving to Bogota to teach English and learn Spanish. After a few years, she decided she couldn’t stand living in a city and decided to move to New Zealand. I guess her Dad comes to NZ every year, so he had some contacts and she’s been happily working as a trail guide ever since.
After lunch, I walked around 'town' a bit more and took a walk over to the lake to get some great photos of the scenery. I then made my way back to the stables for part 2 of the riding experience. The afternoon would be spent riding through many areas where the Lord of the Rings was filmed. My horse for this trip was Monty and he was kind of a pain in the neck. I had to establish, early on, that he needed to turn the autopilot off because I had no intention of letting him just follow the horse right in front of him for the whole trip. Luckily, I have a great sister who has told me more or less how to do this :). I think I was pretty successful, but Monty and I fought a few more times before the end of the trip. He liked to eat a lot and he got very fussy when I wouldn’t let him (to the point where he would start turning in circles and stomping his feet while shaking his head). I did the famous ‘hang at the back of the trail ride so that you can trot/canter to catch up’ thing (because we weren’t supposed to be going faster than a walk). Luckily the guide either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
The trip was through the area known as Paradise (about 30 minutes by van north of Glenorchy). The views and scenery on this ride were possibly even better than the morning. We went through some areas where Dart Stables lets their 'off-duty' horses graze and roam. Altogether, the company owns about 65 horses. One of them is shown here enjoying the nice afternoon weather up on a hill. We went through the forests where several scenes from the Lord of the Rings were filmed. The guide pointed out the areas and he also pointed out the extent to which computer graphics were used to doctor the scenery (i.e. we saw the place where Frodo leaves the others to go off on the lake, but there isn’t really a lake there – that was added in post-production). I wish I was more up on the movies because I don’t remember a lot of the names of places and characters. But I do remember some of the scenes. We saw the wooded area where the orcs come down and kill one of the characters. Apparently the orcs were actually New Zealand rugby players and about 10 of them ended up either in the hospital or injured for the rest of the season as a result of filming the scenes.
Perhaps the highlight of the ride is shown in the photo here. I know this area played a huge role in the movie, but I cannot remember what the name of the area was in the movie. In any case, the scenery was just absolutely breathtaking (the photo doesn’t do it justice by any means). We saw a few other areas where scenes from the movie were shot (as well as a few areas where TV commercials were filmed). Apparently film crews are in and out of that area all the time. The cameras will be back in April for the filming of ‘The Hobbit’.
All in all, the ride was great and it was so much fun to see all of the great scenery! I haven’t included all of the detail that I could in these entries because I need to get to sleep at some point! I was exhausted at the end of it all and it was nice to just relax in the van on the ride back to Queenstown. I hope I will be able to walk tomorrow – haha. I am pretty sore right now, so I need to make sure to stretch a lot before bed. After I returned, I made a few quick schedule changes in my itinerary and then took a shower and went out for dinner.
Tonight, I decided to be low key. I found a seemingly quite popular fish and chips stand near the lake and ordered my food to go. I enjoyed my dinner while sitting on a concrete wall watching the sunset over the lake. It’s funny how for $10 you can get a really good fish and chips meal and an absolutely stunning sunset. I sat there for probably an hour or so (until it got dark) because I just couldn’t bring myself to leave. I think this area is probably my favorite place on the planet… I’m not sure where I would have given that title to before this trip, but I have just been amazed at every turn of the corner. I have taken more than 600 photos in a day and a half. The scenery and the atmosphere here is so unique and so brilliant. There aren’t many things that could have made my dinner and sunset experience any more perfect than it already was.
The trip to Glenorchy took about 45 minutes by van and the views of Lake Wakatipu were spectacular! The morning sky was a bit overcast, but the views were still amazing. We past by a few areas that were used in the filming of the Lord of the Rings (first of many for the day) and eventually we arrived at the stables. Here, I met my first horse of the day, Charleston. I don’t know what kind of horse he was other than he was brown and full of energy. I may have suggested that I was a bit more experienced with horseback riding than I actually am. However, I think that probably worked out in my favor by the end of the day anyhow – haha. 
Meagan, our tour guide was great! She led the 5 of us on the trip that included crossing several streams that were probably 2 – 3 feet deep (that was fun to do on the horse!). I really can’t even begin to describe the awesomeness of the scenery. We were essentially in a valley (owned by the Queen of England) with several small streams that all fed into Lake Wakatipu. Because the valley was carved out by a glacier, the streams change course all the time, so it is always a different environment for these rides. There were some paths to follow, but we spent most of the ride making our own trails. On the one side was a mountain range that was featured in the Lord of the Rings. I believe they were called the Misty Mountains in the movie and they led toward the Gates of Isengard. 
The most amazing part of the morning was cantering the horses through the valley. Prior to this morning, I had never cantered a horse before. Though I am sure that my riding would never win a ribbon at a show, I think I managed to do okay! (at least I felt in rhythm, felt comfortable, and felt confident enough that I could really look around and enjoy the scenery as we went) Personally, this is what I think horseback riding should be – going fast in a crazy beautiful place. You could tell (throughout the walking parts of the ride) that the horses just wanted to go. So, it didn’t take much to kick things into 3rd gear and get moving. I wish I could better describe the feeling of moving that fast with such a large animal with unbelievably amazing scenery all around.
Eventually, we returned to the stables after an amazing ride and I went to downtown Glenorchy. The town’s population is only about 230 people (possibly smaller than Lynchburg, TN). Nonetheless, I had a good recommendation from Meagan as to a great café. I had lunch with Meagan and the other girl who was working at the stables (I didn’t catch her name). It was fun to talk to them about living in Queenstown and all of their experiences. Meagan was born and grew up in Nevada before moving to Bogota to teach English and learn Spanish. After a few years, she decided she couldn’t stand living in a city and decided to move to New Zealand. I guess her Dad comes to NZ every year, so he had some contacts and she’s been happily working as a trail guide ever since. 
After lunch, I walked around 'town' a bit more and took a walk over to the lake to get some great photos of the scenery. I then made my way back to the stables for part 2 of the riding experience. The afternoon would be spent riding through many areas where the Lord of the Rings was filmed. My horse for this trip was Monty and he was kind of a pain in the neck. I had to establish, early on, that he needed to turn the autopilot off because I had no intention of letting him just follow the horse right in front of him for the whole trip. Luckily, I have a great sister who has told me more or less how to do this :). I think I was pretty successful, but Monty and I fought a few more times before the end of the trip. He liked to eat a lot and he got very fussy when I wouldn’t let him (to the point where he would start turning in circles and stomping his feet while shaking his head). I did the famous ‘hang at the back of the trail ride so that you can trot/canter to catch up’ thing (because we weren’t supposed to be going faster than a walk). Luckily the guide either didn’t notice or didn’t care. 
The trip was through the area known as Paradise (about 30 minutes by van north of Glenorchy). The views and scenery on this ride were possibly even better than the morning. We went through some areas where Dart Stables lets their 'off-duty' horses graze and roam. Altogether, the company owns about 65 horses. One of them is shown here enjoying the nice afternoon weather up on a hill. We went through the forests where several scenes from the Lord of the Rings were filmed. The guide pointed out the areas and he also pointed out the extent to which computer graphics were used to doctor the scenery (i.e. we saw the place where Frodo leaves the others to go off on the lake, but there isn’t really a lake there – that was added in post-production). I wish I was more up on the movies because I don’t remember a lot of the names of places and characters. But I do remember some of the scenes. We saw the wooded area where the orcs come down and kill one of the characters. Apparently the orcs were actually New Zealand rugby players and about 10 of them ended up either in the hospital or injured for the rest of the season as a result of filming the scenes. 
Perhaps the highlight of the ride is shown in the photo here. I know this area played a huge role in the movie, but I cannot remember what the name of the area was in the movie. In any case, the scenery was just absolutely breathtaking (the photo doesn’t do it justice by any means). We saw a few other areas where scenes from the movie were shot (as well as a few areas where TV commercials were filmed). Apparently film crews are in and out of that area all the time. The cameras will be back in April for the filming of ‘The Hobbit’. 
All in all, the ride was great and it was so much fun to see all of the great scenery! I haven’t included all of the detail that I could in these entries because I need to get to sleep at some point! I was exhausted at the end of it all and it was nice to just relax in the van on the ride back to Queenstown. I hope I will be able to walk tomorrow – haha. I am pretty sore right now, so I need to make sure to stretch a lot before bed. After I returned, I made a few quick schedule changes in my itinerary and then took a shower and went out for dinner.
Tonight, I decided to be low key. I found a seemingly quite popular fish and chips stand near the lake and ordered my food to go. I enjoyed my dinner while sitting on a concrete wall watching the sunset over the lake. It’s funny how for $10 you can get a really good fish and chips meal and an absolutely stunning sunset. I sat there for probably an hour or so (until it got dark) because I just couldn’t bring myself to leave. I think this area is probably my favorite place on the planet… I’m not sure where I would have given that title to before this trip, but I have just been amazed at every turn of the corner. I have taken more than 600 photos in a day and a half. The scenery and the atmosphere here is so unique and so brilliant. There aren’t many things that could have made my dinner and sunset experience any more perfect than it already was.
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