Dragon tales of Middle Earth: Deer Park Heights

May 8, 2017

3 min read

Queenstown New Zealand April 2017 (19 photos)

This is part 3 of my New Zealand series of posts.

Peninsula Hill is a significant feature of the landscape of Queenstown and much of Peninsula Hill is taken up by the private property and (former) tourist attraction known as Deer Park Heights.

In the photo above I am standing on the eastern side of the Queenstown Gardens along the Frankton Arm of Lake Wakatipu, looking northeast just upon dawn. In the mid distance is a brown hill which is Deer Park Heights, marked by small telecommunication structures at the peak. Further in the background is The Remarkables Mountain Range.

Now I’m standing at the peak of Deer Park Heights looking back at Queenstown.

Deer Park Heights once featured a safari-type environment in which visitors could hand-feed livestock, including bison, deer, llamas and goats. In 2009 Deer Park Heights was closed to visitors. “Forever… possibly” according to the landowners who have since retired. Public access by motor vehicle is no longer permitted.

However, a friend of mine who lives in Queenstown was able to arrange for the gates of Deer Park Heights to be opened for me, allowing motor vehicle access to the top. For this I am particularly grateful to all concerned.

Deer Park Heights offers magnificent views.

To the north is Frankton and the Kawarau River, the set location for the River Anduin in the Lord of the Rings movies.

To the east is the Remarkables Mountain Range with a highest point of 2319 metres. They are so named as they one of only two mountain ranges in the world which run directly north to south. The Remarkables were portrayed as the slopes of Dimrill Dale where the Fellowship of the Ring rested after escaping the Mines of Moria and witnessing the fall of Gandalf.

In a later post I’ll show some photos I took after flying in a helicopter and landing near the peak of The Remarkables. Regular readers will recall I flew in a helicopter with the doors removed over Uluru and Kata Tjuta last year.

To the south is Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and the imposing sight of the Cecil Hills. Lake Wakatipu was the set location for Lothlorien.

To the west are unlimited mountain vistas including the peak of Ben Lomond.

Deer Park Heights itself is Queenstown’s largest Lord of the Rings location and was used for many of the scenes depicting the barren landscape of Rohan. Scenes filmed here include:

The escape from Edoras to Helm’s Deep.

The encampment scene where Eowyn discovers that Aragorn is 87 years old, one of the last survivors of the Dunedain.

The attack of the Wargs upon the Rohirrim and the fall of Aragorn.

Part of Gandalf’s ride towards Gondor.

The location where Aragorn emerges from the Paths of the Dead to see the pirate flotilla pillaging villages.

I was taking in this magnificent scenery and setting myself up to get some nice sunset shots when I soon learned one of the dangers of photographing from a height in New Zealand.