Where God lives
This small piece of paradise has hosted international movie and television stars from Hollywood, Bollywood and Australia. Production companies have come from far and wide to capture Queenstown’s landscapes, filming on the side of hills, on top of snowy mountains, or on the blue lake.
“The view of Queenstown and The Remarkables is the greatest sight on earth,” said Stephen Fry in 2011. John Travolta, in 1999: “That ride down to Queenstown when I saw those vistas I thought ‘Oh my God — this is where God lives.’”
The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003)
Peter Jackson shot much of Middle-earth within an hour of Queenstown. Glenorchy and Paradise stood in for Lothlórien and Isengard; the Dart River for the Anduin; Skippers Canyon for the Ford of Bruinen; Deer Park Heights above Kelvin Heights for the Rohan refugee scenes; and the Kawarau River, beneath the bungy bridge, for the Pillars of the Kings. Half-day Lord of the Rings tours leave from town; a four-wheel-drive or jet boat into the Dart Valley is the immersive version.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, directed by Gavin Hood and starring Hugh Jackman, was mostly shot in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In 2008 production moved to the South Island; many scenes were filmed in Dunedin, but the familiar backgrounds in the farm sequences are Queenstown, at Deer Park Heights. Twentieth Century Fox tried to store its explosives at the Queenstown Ice Arena for scenes at Hudson Farm before weather delays sent the production to Sydney. The film opened at the top of the box office, grossing over $373 million worldwide. Deer Park Heights closed to visitors in 2009 after forty years, but the Queenstown Ice Arena, a five-minute walk from the town centre beside Queenstown Gardens, is open seven days.
Top of the Lake (2013)
Jane Campion’s Emmy-winning crime drama, starring Elisabeth Moss, was shot entirely on location over eighteen weeks in Queenstown and Glenorchy, with Glenorchy playing the fictitious town of Laketop. Moke Lake, twenty minutes from town, is the other key location. A beautiful fifty-minute drive along the shore of Lake Wakatipu, Glenorchy is an outdoor enthusiasts’ paradise — walkers, photographers and adventurers have all been captivated by this wilderness and its southern Kiwi way of life.
The Water Horse (2007)
The Loch Ness legend, filmed on Lake Wakatipu and around Glenorchy, with Queenstown’s lake standing in for Scotland. Look for the Kinloch shoreline and the head of the lake in the water scenes.
More productions
Beyond the headline titles, Queenstown’s film credits run long. Mission: Impossible — Fallout used the Southern Alps for its Kashmir finale, with helicopter sequences over the Wakatipu; Vertical Limit built its base camp at Coronet Peak; Willow shot its opening on the shores of the lake; The Chronicles of Narnia used Paradise and the Dart Valley; A Wrinkle in Time and Mulan both filmed in the Ahuriri and Wakatipu basins. Bollywood has returned repeatedly — I Hate Luv Storys and Players among them — and Australian and international reality formats regularly base themselves on the lake. The Queenstown Ice Arena, the Skyline gondola and the Kawarau bungy bridge all have screen credits of their own.
Planning it from The Spire
A half-day Glenorchy and Paradise tour leaves town at 8.30am and has you back by lunch; a full-day Lord of the Rings tour adds Skippers Canyon or the Dart River jet boat. Both collect from Church Lane. For photographers, the concierge can arrange a private driver so you set the stops and the light. Combine a morning in Glenorchy with an afternoon on Pacific Jemm — the lake you cruise is the same one Jane Campion filmed — and finish with dinner at No.5. In winter the Glenorchy road is open but the Paradise track beyond it can be muddy; four-wheel-drive tours run year-round.
Visiting the locations
Almost everything above is within an hour of The Spire. Our concierge arranges guided Lord of the Rings and film-location tours, four-wheel-drive trips into Paradise and the Dart Valley, and jet boat rides on the Dart and Shotover. For the full effect, see the locations from above on a scenic helicopter flight and finish with a Pacific Jemm cruise on the very lake that has doubled for so many others.
