This is a little story I wrote for a travel writing competition recently. It's a great example of the experiences I live for when on the road, whether as a guide or on my own time. I didn't win the competition but it was a great opportunity to exercise my writing skills. I want to [...]
If you need some travel motivation for the day, take a few minutes and watch this short Youtube video. My good friend Ian Brodie, author of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Location Guidebooks (among many others), has been travelling the world photographing landscapes and film sets. He has an incredible ability to [...]
I took a writer from Germany on a short Wellington City tour recently and I've just popped up in a story. It's written in German of course, but google translate does a fair job of translating it to English. Check it out here! For your own New Zealand adventure, contact me here. [sbc id="1" [...]
What does a movie location tour guide do when he goes on vacation? Over the Christmas/New Year period, Nicole and I took a rare break and visited Oregon and Hawaii. This is the busiest time of year in New Zealand tourism and I'm usually working. Nicole hasn't had Christmas with her family since 2005 so it [...]
Buy the Hobbit Motion Picture Trilogy Location Guidebook HERE! Buy the Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook HERE! Ian Brodie's book, The Hobbit Motion Picture Trilogy Location Guidebook is a very useful tool when planning and executing your own Middle-earth adventure in New Zealand! I met Ian in Queenstown way back in 2002 (I think), when he was researching [...]
miketheguide.com offers private high-end tours for solo travellers, couples and small groups - the following tour is an example of what I can offer. If you like what you see, contact me directly and together we can create your ultimate New Zealand experience. Mae Govannen - Haere Mai - Welcome! I have designed an exciting 7 [...]
Yesterday I joined some of the best LOTR tour guides in Wellington, and we took a road trip to Aorangi Forest Park in the Wairarapa region of the North Island. Perhaps the best known site in the park is the Putangirua Pinnacles. Of all the Lord of the Rings filming locations around New Zealand, this [...]
Nomad Safaris offers 2 half day Lord of the Rings filming location tours, this one and the Safari of the Scenes - Glenorchy tour. Safari of the Scenes - Wakatipu Basin Tour (departs 8.30am & 1.30pm, NZ$169 pp) This tour offers a comprehensive look around the Queenstown end of the Wakatipu Basin, and includes some good [...]
In December of 2002, after 3 years working at the local video store in Queenstown (a job I loved as it confirmed me as a lifelong film geek), I convinced David and Amanda from Nomad Safaris to hire me as a driver/guide. I had no experience, but possessed a passion for Lord of the Rings [...]
