Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It's the Polynesian giggle-factor that seems likeliest to break down the bleak house of
NZ cinema, with feel-good-through-and-through
Sione's Wedding
(2006) netting the
second-biggest local takings of any NZ film.
New Zealanders have gone from never seeing themselves in international cinema to
having whole cloned armies of Temuera Morrisons invading the universe in
Star Wars
.
Familiar faces such as Cliff Curtis and Karl Urban seem to constantly pop up playing
Mexican or Russian gangsters in action movies. Many of them got their start in long-run-
ning soap opera
Shortland St
(7pm weekdays, TV2).
The only Kiwi actors to have won an Oscar are Anna Paquin (for
The Piano
) and Rus-
sell Crowe (for
Gladiator
). Paquin was born in Canada but moved to NZ when she was
four, while Crowe moved from NZ to Australia at the same age.
Visual Arts
The NZ 'can do' attitude extends to the visual arts. If you're visiting a local's home don't
be surprised to find one of the owner's paintings on the wall or one of their mate's sculp-
tures in the back garden, pieced together out of bits of shell, driftwood and a length of
the magical 'number-eight wire'.
MIDDLE-EARTH TOURISM
If you are one of those travellers inspired to come down under by the scenery of
the Lord of the Rings (LOTR)movies, you won't be disappointed. Peter Jackson's
decision to film in NZ wasn't mere patriotism. Nowhere else on earth will you find
such wildly varied, unspoiled landscapes - not to mention poorly paid actors.
You will doubtless recognise some places from the films. For example, Hobbiton
(near Matamata), Mt Doom (instantly recognisable as towering Ngauruhoe) and
the Misty Mountains (the South Island's Southern Alps). The visitor information
centres in Wellington, Twizel or Queenstown should be able to direct you to local
LOTRsites of interest. If you're serious about finding the exact spots where scenes
were filmed, buy a copy of Ian Brodie's nerdtastic The Lord of the Rings: Location
Guidebook,which includes instructions, and even GPS coordinates, for finding all
the important places.
This is symptomatic of a flourishing local art and crafts scene cultivated by lively ter-
tiary courses churning out traditional carvers and weavers, jewellery-makers, multimedia
