Limestone Country and Weathertop from LOTR

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Hi All,

Recently I ventured into the limestone country near Port Waikato on the west coast, just south of Auckland. I grapped some photos which I thought I'd share here.

This is a fascinating area full of intriguing and mysterious limestone formations. Once leaving the small town of Port Waikato and continuing up into the hinterland the entire landscape completely changes character. It is a remote area with very little traffic. The entire area has a somewhat mysterious atmosphere and even the trees have unusual shapes here.
The narrow winding gravel road undulates through limestone rock formations and splendid scenery for some 50 kilometers, passes the Nikau Cave Cafe and ultimately joins SH22 south of the small town of Glen Murray.

Also, the rock outcrop portrayed as Weathertop in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) can be found here and is clearly wisible from the road, albeit from a distance. It is really quite a striking sight.

Images available here: http://www.pbase.com/rolfolsen/waika...estone_country
Hope you enjoy!

Regards,
Rolf

[Finite (John)]

Nice, Rolf, it is indeed a spectacular area.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Thanks Rolf, I have been there , yes it is an eary place , did you see any "Orcs" ?
Cool place .
Brian.

[Ric]

Great images Rolf

Definitely a beautiful looking area.

[iceman (Mike)]

Wow,an amazing place.
Nice one Rolf!

[Liz]

Thanks Rolf, great images of a beautiful part of NZ.

[StephenM (Stephen)]

A nice series of images Rolf. I visited a similar area when living in Auckland about 14 years ago, but I think it was a bit further south - possibly Marakopa or something like that? There was a good cave that you could wander in to with a torch.

Cheers,
Stephen