Experience "Lord of The Rings" & "River Queen"

Ruapehu's spectacular and diverse scenery makes it a natural choice for film locations.  The most notable movie featuring Ruapehu, was Oscar Award winning trilogy, Lord of the Rings directed by Peter Jackson.

Ruapehu take a bow! Mordor, home to the Dark Lord Sauron was shot on location on and around the rocky slopes of the Tongariro National Park. The area’s jagged volcanic rock formations and eerie barren landscapes were ideal locations for creating Mordor’s hissing wasteland.

Our beautiful Mount Ngauruhoe was digitally transformed to create the fiery (and scary)  Mount Doom.  Given the importance of the Tongariro National Park, the producers worked closely with the Department of Conservation to ensure that special care was taken during filming to protect this sensitive ecological environment.

Lord of the Rings
Three rings for the elven kings, under the sky
Seven for the dwarf lords, in their halls of stone
Nine for mortal men, doomed to die
And one for the Dark Lord, on his dark throne
In the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all
One Ring to find them
One Ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them
In the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie

J.R.R. Tolkien “The Lord of the Rings”

Key scenes shot in Ruapehu include Mordor and the Emyn Muil (Iwikau Village at Whakapapa), Ithilien Camp (Mangawhero Falls) and Orc Army scenes (Rangipo Desert).

While the locations can be visited independently, due to the difficulty in accessing and identifying some of the locations, guided tours to the film locations are recommended.

River Queen
More recently the River Queen directed by Vincent Ward, starring the Whanganui River and Whanganui National Park has proved to be exceptionally popular with the New Zealand filmgoer.

An intimate 19th century drama, the story follows a young woman’s epic search for her lost son.  Set in turbulent times when Maori and British forces were at war, she treads a dangerous, uncertain and emotional path between the battle lines.

Ruapehu take another bow! Most of the movie was shot on the Whanganui River in the Ruapehu District. Other parts of Ruapehu that featured in the movie include the Manganui o te Ao river at Ruatiti and on private land bordering the Tongariro National Park.

The Maori culture portrayed in the movie emulates the traditional customs of Whanganui iwi and can be experienced by taking a cultural journey with local Maori operators.   As the area is also rich in early European history the movie provides an insight into the colonial times recreated for the movie.

Most of the film locations are accessible by taking a journey with a number of the tour operators some of whom had involvement during the film’s production.