The Country South of Rivendell

Glendhu Bay, New Zealand (June 2, 2008)

After Wanaka we turned around North, following the shore of the lake towards Glendhu Bay. From there we followed the road towards the Treble Cone Ski resort. Our destination was not the ski resort, but rather to explore the countryside around the lake, with the mountains on one side and the glacial valleys all around. In fact, I think we probably got lost, as the road soon became unsealed (unpaved) and we found ourselves immersed in farm country.

Glendhu Bay

The photo above actually shows what had been a quite common occurrence during our whole trip. As I mentioned before, New Zealand really has more sheep than people. Several times along our trip we had to stop to leave innumerable sheep clear the road, under the watchful eye, and precise barks of the dogs directing them. In truth, we weren’t really completely lost. See the hill behind the sheep (and in the panoramic below)? The landscape wasn't entirely new to us, because we had seen it before as it was used in the Lord of the Ring movies to shot scenes of the Fellowship walking on rough terrain south of Rivendell.

Glendhu Bay, New Zealand (June 2, 2008)