Gondor, Rohan and the King of Dwarves

8.5

Dawn broke and we set out towards a new horizon turning our face northwards.

While we headed north our true direction was still south: the Pelennor Fields, where in a different age the fate of the free world was decided. But the fields of battle and glory are not easily found for they hide behind fences and desguise themselves as farmlands. After several twisted turns, dead ends and private roads guarded by farmers and their tractors we found a point next to a ice blue stream where we could see the path the Rohirrim once road to battle in the distance. They represent, in my humble opinion, one of the most epic moments in the entire lotr trilogy and I always get the chills when Theoden King encourages his riders to fight for the free folk of middle earth and prevent the age of the orcs that could be dawning if they were to be defeated.

We spent the night close to the Pelennor Fields next to a little lake, where birds passed.

9.5

Many people know of the mighty battle on the doors of Minas Tirith that is fought on the Pelennor Fields, but few know that the real Pelennor Fields are situated on two locations. That day we travelled up the road leading to the mighty Mount Cook (the highest peak in New Zealand) to find the second half of the Pelennor Fields and the view on the white city itself. The drive there was already magnificent with snow capped mountains rising up on one side of the road and a large river crossed plain on the other side. The white city and the other half of the Pelennor Fields lay on a steep mountainside close to the small village of Mount Cook. We needed to broaden our horizons to see the city itself, but with auras pulsing it was no problem. It was a great view with the tallest mountains of this country rising up all around us. After a bit of exploration we headed back up the road and stopped at the most beautiful viewpoint for lunch and a relaxing cup of tea/coffee outside. The afternoon went by with Bert carrying us past magnificent mountains and furher up until we set up camp for the night.

10.5

For once we did not explore too much. Our minds were so cramped up with images one would usually only see on postcards that we decided to rest for a day. That included getting up late and enjoying the very rare connection to the invisible library of all things inside the visible and warm(!) library of Geraldine. We needed to plan some of our future adventures into a land far away. It is very strange to activly plan our time after we have finished our quest and our journey home. But time passes no matter what we do. We are no mighty loremasters who have the ability to chance the flow of time, all we can do is to decide what to do with the time that is given to us.

11.5

The sun began its path over the horizon and we started the day excited for the new adventures that awaited us. First of all we took the chance of a small river close to our camp to take a quick shower and wash our hair. We set out north-west making our way further into the land and to the next magnificent city of men: Edoras, the home of the horse lords. In this parallel universe it is located on mount sunday and of the many houses that once stood there only memories remain. But it is still a place full of history and filled with the splendour of the surrounding mountains. So we decided to acent the mountain to see the fields of Rohan from above. Before we could reach the mountain we needed to cross serveral streams and a roaring river, the home of the mythical galaxy fish and the king salmon. We spotted neither. Once we reached the top of mount sunday we stood on the place, where once the hall of king Theoden stood. Very fitting was the arrival of a group of riders, they sadly did not wear cloaks. What a missed oportunity. For lunch we drove a bit further up one of the surrounding mountains and set up our outside chairs and table to eat with the view over Edoras. There are few things as relaxing as sitting with a hot cup of coffee in the sun looking over a large valley with a movie set sitting in the middle. Therefore we stayed for a while. In the end we departed that beautiful place to venture back in the direction of Christchurch for we had an exciting appointment there the following evening.

12.5

We awoke next to a beautiful, quiet lake. The first half of the day was filled with urgent to dos such as replenishing our storages, washing our clothes and feeding Bert. In between we filled our own stomachs. The plans for that evening were decided long ago out of a need that grew almost unbearable over the course of our travells. There are several thing we have missed during the time of our quest, most of them are luxurys we can perfectly well live without, such as warm showers. Others are harder losses such as books, we have ebook readers but it just is not the same. But there was one thing we ended up giving in and spending a lot more money on than we would usually do and that was good live music. There is just nothing that could replace a proper metal show. We already knew a few of the songs from the band we would be seeing that night so when we realized they played in Christchurch and we could actually make it there we immediately aquired tickets. As passionate metalheads we have attended several metal concerts in europe and we had some expectations of a concert from a band that was currently on a world tour. Well our expectations were wrong. We found only very little information on the start of the show and the venue in the invisible library of all things, so we decided to check out the parking situation before we started to cook dinner. The venue was located in the heart of the city where free parking spots are a rarety. Our quest led us to the small road where the venue was located. It was two hours before the door open for an international band so we expected at least some people would be there. It was deserted. After walking up to the doors and hearing the soundcheck we were sure we were in the right spot, also a group of unmistakeable metalheads arrived at the same time. As we were basically the first people there we parked right in front of the venue, literally 5 meters away from the doors. There we cooked our dinner and watched the small crowd gather around Bert. Then at 7 pm the doors opened. At that time roughly 80 people were there, which was not a lot for a sold out night. Another thing we came to realize was how small the population of New Zealand is. There are roughly 5 million Kiwis and with a population of 350 000 (don't quote me on that) Chrichchurch is the largest town on the south island. There are just a lot less metalheads than in Germany, so much fewer people go to a concert. The venue was more of a bar, people got themselves a drink first and talked for a bit. We entered after the first rush of people and we ended up in the front row! Just a couple of other facts: the highest point of the stage (the riser for the drummer) was 70 cm high, the entire stage was a bit larger than a common pavillion, there was no band banner, as they probably did not own one so small and the crowd that had gathered at the beginning of the concert was max 200 people. We listen to a lot of smaller bands, but this was the smallest concert I have ever bought tickets for.

We wanted to see a metal show, preferably a powermetal show, but we are currently in middle earth, the land of Durin, so we ended up at a Dwarven Metalshow. It was great. Everyone who says metalheads are evil needs to listen to true metal hits like "Diggy, Diggy Hole" (also available in a Dance Remix) or "I am the mountain". We had a lot of fun that night. My neck screamed at me for headbanging too much at the second song (definetly out of practice) and my voice gave up half way through the set. We jumped, screamed, dug some holes and vibed with the people next to us and on stage. We once more realized why metal concerts are so great and I can't wait for the next one.