New Zealand: Ready for my close up

Movie geeks want to know where the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed. They want to follow in the footsteps of hobbits. They want to know where Viggo “Aragorn” Mortensen swung his sword. Geeks like me.
Locations were chosen all over New Zealand, from the North to the South islands. But plenty of filming sites can be found right in and near the city of Wellington. I took an all-day bus tour with Wellington Rover to hit the highlights. Yes, I know, package tours do not befit the intrepid traveler. But I could not resist.
In our party was a Finnish couple, two Brits, one Brit-American, an Aussie and a Swede. We set out at 8:30am. Our leader, Rendall, drove us from Helm’s Deep and Minis Tirith (Dry Creek Quarry in the Hutt River valley) to Rivendell (Kaitoke Regional Park) and Isengard (Harcourt Park).
We walked where Frodo warned his hobbit pals to “Get off the road!” (Mount Victoria). Like good fanboys and girls, we posed for pictures, donned elf ears and reenacted scenes. I joined two Brits (on their honeymoon) and pretended to be a Black Rider on his horse in the exact place where Peter Jackson filmed the scene in 1999. Silhouetted against the sky, I think we looked fairly imposing. That’s me on the right-- I’m the horse’s butt.
I’m ready for my close up.