Lord of the Rings - Hassle-Free Tours

Imagine standing on a knob of rock on top of a hill, surrounded by gold and green plains and a ring of mountains. Snow-capped peaks glint in the sun and the air is fresh. That was the highlight of a recent Lord of the Rings tour I was part of. The hill was actually Mt Erebor of Lord of the Rings fame, aka Mt Sunday.

The tour was run by Hassle-Free Tours and I was picked up at 9am in Christchurch along with several others – an eclectic group as we were from five different countries, six if you included our guide. It was a journey of three hours to our destination but time went quickly. Thirty minutes was taken up by a video that gave the background to the movies and we had a coffee break at Salmon World in Rakaia.

Our first taste of amazing scenery was at Lake Clearwater and from there-on, we were ensconced by majestic mountains, clear streams and blue lakes. Our guide locked the hubs on the four wheel drive as we entered Mt Potts Station. The vehicle easily handled the small streams and river as we bumped over the shingle road to our destination.

I’ve lived in New Zealand for ten years and have travelled up and down the country dozens of times but this scenery was among the best I’ve ever seen. Mt Erebor is a low hill surrounded by soaring mountains, braided rivers, golden tussocks and green grass. Our guide showed us photos of the movie set as it was at the time – and I confessed at that stage that I’d never watched the Lord of the Rings.

Armed with replica swords and a Lord of the Rings flag, we embarked on the 20 minute climb up Mt Erebor. The view from the top was amazing. As one of the group said, “You photograph it but when you get home, you can’t convey how incredible it is up here.” We took turns in posing with various swords and the flags and then wandered around for a while, trying to imagine the movie set, horses stampeding across the valley and the Great Hall presiding over Mt Erebor.

When we’d taken heaps of photos and soaked up the scenery, it was time to head back to the base of the hill where our guide spread a picnic blanket out by the river. Lunch was sandwiches and slices accompanied by juice and bubbly. Conversation flowed freely and by the time we set off on the return journey, we were all good friends. We arrived back in Christchurch at 5pm.

Hassle-FreeTours have a great product here and the guide had excellent knowledge about the movies, characters and also the areas we passed through. Safety was paramount at every stage and we were shown the safety beacon and given directions of what to do in case of an accident or emergency. I would give them a five star rating.