Our Skippers Canyon Jet tour was amazing! It included a thrilling drive on Skippers Road followed by an exhilarating jet boat ride through the scenic gorge on the Shotover River, including a stop at the LOTR filming location for the Ford of Bruinen.
We took the phenomenal Skippers Canyon Jet Tour. Both the drive along Skippers Road and the jet boat ride had our adrenaline pumping.
Skippers Road
Skippers Road was treacherous, as we were close to the ledge on the narrow, dirt road with massive drop-offs. A motorbike came speeding around a corner and almost ran into our van on our descent, swerving to miss us and almost going off the cliff!
The views of the Skippers Bridge and Skippers Canyon were stunning.
Jet Boat (Ford of Bruinen)
The jet boat skimmed through the water within inches of boulders/edges and had a series of crazy 360 spins. The ride included a stop at the Ford of Bruinen, featured in LOTR where Arwen shouts “If you want him, come and claim him!” as she brings forth the galloping river to engulf the Nazgûl and save Frodo.
Here’s a compilation of the framed 360 videos from the entire jet boat ride.
Tarras (Great East Road)
We got to visit both of the New Zealand LOTR filming locations where the Nazgul chase after Arwen and Frodo (Tarras – Great East Road and Skippers Canyon – Ford of Bruinen). On our way from Twizel, we drove through the small town of Tarras, where Arwen gallops with Frodo through the ‘Great East Road’ pine trees while fleeing the Nazgul. We drove along Maori Point Rd and took some drone footage above the treeline. It was a bit difficult to pinpoint the exact film locations, and there was some tree damage, which we discovered was from a 2021 storm. Here’s the compilation video with both locations.
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