Intrepid Kiwi explorer and LOTR fan KiwiSamFan managed to find the location that was used in filming Weathertop. About 2 years ago Thorongil and I went looking for the same location but we didn’t have her luck! [More though we felt pretty happy that we’d found a whole lot of bizarre limestone formations like it, out there in the middle of nowhere, so we were pretty close. But not as close as KiwiSamFan got!
“I found Weathertop!! How lucky am I!?? I knew the general area that it was in and thought why not have a look, what have I got to lose? So out I went down a gravel road through some spectacular scenery…I knew I was on the right track as there were some amazing rock formations that reminded me of Weathertop…Can you believe that the first farmhouse that I picked to go up to was the right one…??
I found the farmer and said to him this might sound a bit weird but was LOTR filmed out here and he was like yes, um how did you know that? I said that I knew it was in this area and that I figured I would ask around and there I was…He said that if I went up the hill past the woolshed I would be able to see it. He told me to get on the back of his very cool 4-wheel bike and he would take me up…I knew it as soon as I saw it, it is so distinctive, I took a couple of photos but my camera doesn’t have a zoom and it was quite far away, I guess I must have looked a bit sad because he said come on I’ll take you out there…WHOOPEE!!
It took about 35 minutes lots of bumps up hill down dale stuff, it was a real white knuckle ride! I felt like I was clinging on for dear life. I said “are you sure that we won’t tip over?” He just laughed, we went real fast it was so much fun I screamed my head off…I could see that we were getting closer and closer he stopped a few times for me to take photos…then we were there! I could see the overhanging limestone outcrop where Sam, Pippin and Merry had their fire and made their tomatoes and nice crispy bacon just before the Ringwraiths approached and Frodo woke up to put the fire out. I climbed right up there – what an awesome feeling to be standing there, great view too.
The farmer is such a wonderful guy! I never dreamed that he would take me all the way out there…He has been there for only 8 months so he wasn’t there when they filmed, he said that I am the first person to go out there and ask to see the site how amazing is that I felt sure people would be interested in it…He said that he would be happy for me to visit again and to bring a few people out, he said if I wanted to I could camp out there like they did in the film, how cool would that be…All he asks is that next time I come I bring a couple of dozen beers – What a great guy eh! I posted about this on the discussion board got a good response too, I just had to share it with all my TORnsibs and you.”
Anyone wanting to join KiwiSamFan on another expedition, if you can’t find her on the messageboard then email me and I’ll send on your request. It’s REALLY out of the way, you’d need a car.
