Up for breakfast at our B&B before packing up and getting straight on the road

A quick stop at Sugar & Spice Cafe Upper Hutt to caffeinate us fully

A little further along the road, we stop at the Twin Lakes lookout before reaching Kaitoke Regional Park

This is another filming location for LotR but hosts a couple of bridges over the meeting of the Te Awa Kairangi and Hutt Rivers

The water is relatively clear so we get a good view of a couple long-finned eel, or known as tuna in Māori

Eels have lived in New Zealand for over 80 million years and this variety are endemic here; they can grow up to 2 metres in length and 30 kgs in weight

We walk over one of the bridges and make it to an area dedicated to Rivendell (LotR)

There’s a couple information signs pointing out specific trees which were cast in the film as well as a faux stone archway which commemorates a famous like from the first film in the trilogy (this post’s title)

We get on the road again and have a little stop at Remutaka Hill View Point which gives us a nice view of the windy valley we’re driving through (see the featured image)

It’s a couple hours before we have a stop at Masterton to pick up some toasted ciabattas from New World’s café here and walk with them around Queen Elizabeth Park

We continue on the road until we arrive in Taradale where we check into Ballina Motel and head out for dinner

There’s a Four Square supermarket in the town but it doesn’t offer too much so we go to Red Chilli Indian Takeaway & Restaurant

CTM, chicken jalfrazi, keema naan, rice and chips

Knackered from the drive, we head to bed