Edoras, Golden Hall of Theoden, King of Rohan...aka Mt. Sunday

Students of this blog know that our previous visit to New Zealand featured a number of Lord of the Rings sites. We are both LOTR fans. One of the sites we missed in 2009 was Edoras, the Golden Hall of Theoden, King of Rohan. We sort of missed that part of the South Island (as well as Christchurch), and, besides, Edoras, aka Mt. Sunday, was reputed to be hard to get to, remote, and on lousy roads. Well, it is a bit remote, but the roads were just fine, gravel the last 30k or so, but good, recently-graded gravel, and not much out of the way on our route to the big mountains.

Approaching Edoras, a roche moutonnee in a great outwash with the Southern
Alps in the background

Now on the path leading to the little mountain

And there it is

Of course it looked different in The Two Towers

View of the Southern Alps from Edoras; background for the attack of the Wild
Men

Another view from Edoras; the setting for Helm's Deep is
in the canyon in the center

"Surely you wouldn't deprive an old man of his walking stick?"

Actually it was her walking stick

And as we're climbing back down, the LOTR tour bus arrives ($250 from
Christchurch, lunch included)

Beautiful salmon stream nearby

Vicki on the one-person cable bridge across the stream

Last look at Edoras