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Day 8 Shire Reckoning: Sunday, Foreyule 12 - Edoras
Back with Gondor1 and Anwen as the guide. Huzzah! Much camaraderie on Gondor 1. Anyway, they wanted stories of how the premiere went and such and people's different experiences. I told everyone on our coach about mine and Penny's unbelievable experience! Folks were very happy for us. (I think....well that, or they wanted to kill us...) Quickbeam and some other members of TORN have joined us. They are filming a documentary called "Ringers" and may want to interview some folks later on. They have a neat new camera with them that is moving quickly onto the list of my new toys to have. Panasonic 24P....very very nice....runs about as much as a CanonXL1. It is dreary and raining when we leave Christchurch, much as I expected it would be. 3 hour bus ride to Edoras. We stop at a bridge that goes over a river fed by glaciers. The water is a milky blue, looks very very cold. We're told they are glacially fed. I might not be rafting in Queenstown after all.
Back on the bus heading to Edoras. The countryside begins to look more and more like Rohan. Tussock grass all over the place. Finally we can see it all in the distance. It is gorgeous. Not much imagination at all to see Meduseld standing on the top.
We disembark and have to cross three streams to get up there. The water is mighty cold, mighty swift, and the rocks are small, round, and slimy with moss. Not good combos. 1 woman goes in the drink. Feel sorry for her. Also, the numerous cows have left little landmines all over the place. I make a joke about the terrible 'Cowlords of Rohan', Far Side cartoon waiting to happen. Pass the burial mounds. One of the guys on the tour is in full Theoden regalia. He does the whole "Simbelmyne" line....very nice. Hike on up further. There is an amazing 360 degree view with no sign of mankind! (except for the buses in the distance and the fact that some lines of trees are too straight) but it is simply amazing. Hike to the summit and Theoden re-enacts the throwing of Wormtounge out of Edoras and then he rises the Rohirrim and gives a pretty convincing "Forth Eorlingas! " speech. I got it all on tape (will post it soon) and will have fun with it later.
Finally Captured and put up that footage. Here you go! (click on the pic) (~1.5 Megs WMV Format) {If clicking the link doesn't work, right-click and choose "Save As..." and it should work. Don't know why.)
Penny went through 6 or 7 rolls of film. Wow. Too much to take pictures of things.
All too soon it is time to go...sucks. I want to just sit up there for a bit and just soak it all in. Also, the weather has been terribly cooperative. No wind...sun came out (some folks got burned unfortunately, because we were expecting the cloud cover) We head from there to a Lake, whose name I don't remember, but it looks a lot like the lake the refugees take when leaving Edoras for Helm's Deep. I ask Anwen but it is not the location. Just an amazing sight. We keep going and very soon the Misty Mountains come into view. Known in these parts as the Southern Alps. I can see Cruel Caradhras....posing as Mt. Cook (?) More pictures. Gobs of pictures.
Next we get to our hotel. Early morning tomorrow and about 4 locations, whew! Should be cool. Had great convos at dinner and folks were singing some of the old Rankin and Bass cartoon stuff...I'll have to dig out the metal version of "Where there's a whip there's a way" that we did a couple of years ago. Tried a new drink that is L&P and Vodka...sinful....goes down really easy. Okay, early start tomorrow and have to get up early. Mike out. |
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Day 9