Taters and Oliphuants

I mentioned earlier that Twelve Mile Delta was a DOC campsite we stayed at for the duration of our time exploring Queenstown.

Despite being by a lake, it was a hot, dry and dusty site with hardly any shade.

Lake Wakatipu

We were able to amuse ourselves with interesting insects and gold-seeking adventures, but that was hardly the draw that got us to here Twelve Mile.

So why did we decide to camp here?

Other then the fact that it was the closest campsite to Queenstown that didn't cost an arm and a leg, we knew that this was where they filmed Sam and Gollum's "tater" scene as well as Frodo and Sam's "oliphuant" scene from Lord of the Rings!

(We couldn't resist...)

So on the day of our arrival, we explored the area for a bit, looking for the film "spots." Though the whole area looked a lot like the backdrop for the movie, we couldn't find the exact locations, so we asked the camp manager who we rented the panning equipment from. She was able to point us to a tree at the far end of camp by Lake Wakatipu. Supposedly, this is the area where they filmed Sam and Gollum's exchange over coney stew and taters:

Even then, we couldn't find the exact spot, but we felt like we got pretty close :)

The other location she directed us to was this ledge on the other side of Twelve Mile Creek:

This was where they filmed Ithilien camp, where Frodo and Sam looked down and saw the oliphuants for the first time in The Two Towers.

We found a way up the ledge and took some pictures looking down, as you see it in the movie:

As it's been over a decade since the movie was filmed, the area definitely looks overgrown, but the resemblance is still uncanny.


To end this post, I will leave you with this remix of Sam and Gollum's "taters" scene.

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/taters

Enjoy!