Top spot

April 11, 2005

My trip to the deer park wasn't until 2.30pm so I had the morning in which to explore Queenstown a little more and take in a gondola ride up the hill for some great views of the town and lake.
At only $49 the trip to the Deer Park was good value. On the drive out and back we got some information on the history of deer hunting and farming in New Zealand and the area around Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu.
There was an interesting mix of animals in the park including Red and Fallow Deer, Thar, Bison, Yaks, Llamas and a lot of goats.
The views from the top of the hill were fantastic and it was easy to see why it's a popular filming location. Not only has LOTR been filmed there but other movies including Disney's The Rescue (one of their sets is even still standing on the hill top), various TV series and adverts.
Most of what was filmed for LOTR appeared in the second movie, the people of Rohan fleeing to Helms Deep passed a lake which we visited. Lets just say it's amazing what different sized camera lenses will do to a scene!