A trip to Edoras

Before finding a place where to stay in Mount Somers, we stayed one night in Timaru. This coastal town was bigger than expected and very pretty, with a lot of hills. The night in the van was a bit scary though, as we parked in a big public area between overpasses. Young drivers came and went for about 2 hours just after 10:00 p.m., and were either making a lot of noise or parking and staying in their car for long stretches. We thought we wouldn't be bothered with the rain coming down all day and night, but that didn't stop those young fellas from doing their thing. Nobody came close to the van but I was on my guard the whole time... The main reason to stop in Timaru was to find a garage where we could get our van checked. But of course, none were open in the morning since it was saturday and we decided to spend a little time in the local arts museum. After a few hours looking at nice paintings and pictures, we headed to Mount Somers where Yvonne and David welcommed us. They run a holiday park and winter is the big season for them as people come to stay at their place while skiing in the nearby mountains. Our timing was good since 84 college students were coming that week. All the cabins and caravans were packed and we had to make sure they were aired out ot that the heaters were turned off during day time. Among other chores, I swept and mopped floors, trimmed dalias with Dana, did the vaccuming, washed the dishes and played a lot with David and Yvonne's grandson, Sam. Probably one of the biggest 4 y.o. I've ever seen, he talked all the time but was good company. Very smart kid too, and pretty logical for his age. Dana spent most of her time doing some housework. All and all, we didn't work too hard as David and Yvonne were very easy going and didn't count the hours. Every day, we would stop and have morning tea with cheese and crackers. We ate like kings once again and felt privileged to have found such lovely people.


We struggled a little bit to find activities to do in our free times but the best part was definitely when David offered to bring us into the "high country". Some magnificent landscapes are all around the place and David drove us to an important Lord of the Rings site, EDORAS. He was actually an extra in the movie where you can see him for a second and a half in The Two Towers. He showed us where all the scenes were shot, the different camera angles, the time of the day when they would shoot, the small conversations he had with some important actors, etc. Dana was very happy and I felt lucky to have had such a "guided tour". The only downpoint, I didn't have any tape left in my video camera so I couldn't capture anything from the visit...
Though it turned out to be one of the high moments in our trip, so I can't ask for much more!!



photo section:

Edoras, in the middle
getting to Edoras
close-up
Dana and I trying to smile in the sun
lake in a nearby community
picture with little Sam
last picture with Yvonne and David