Which Way is Mordor?

"Which way is mordor, Gandalf? Left or right?"

Mordor is located on one of the islands of New Zealand. New Zealand is a long and narrow, with approximately 9,404 miles of coast, and total land area of 103,483 square miles. Due to this long coast land, the country has extensive marine sources.

The south island is the largest island in New Zealand, and it's divided along its length by the Southern Alps. The term "Southern Alps" generally refers to the entire range, but separate names are given to ranges that form part of it. The Southern Alps were named by Captain Cook on March 23, 1770, even though they had been previously noted by Abel Tasman, in 1642.

The Southern Alps lie along a plate boundary in the Pacific Ring of Fire, with the Pacific plate pushing westward, and the Indo-Australian plate pushing northwest. Over the past 45 million years, the colliding plates have pushed up 20 km of thickness on the Pacific plate. Uplift has been at its peak speed during the last 5 million years, and the mountains continue to raise due to tectonic pressure, causing earthquakes on the Alpine Fault. Most of the movement along the Alpine Fault has been sideways, not vertical.

Because the way the Alps are oriented perpendicular to the prevailing westerly winds, the Southern Alps create excellent wave soaring conditions for glider pilots. The prevailing westerlies also create a weather pattern called the Nor'west Arch, which is where moist air is pushed up over the mountains, which forms an arch of cloud in the sky. This weather pattern is visible during the summer in Canterbury, and North Ortago.

Ever since i heard of it, i always found it rather intriguing. I was looking at the commentary of the Lord of the Rings movie, and i saw some very interesting things.

Did you know?

In the scene were Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimili find the pile of Uruk hi after the Rohirrim had slaughtered them, and Aragorn kicks the helmet of a fallen Uruk hi, he breaks his toe. That's why the scream was so believable.

Did you know that the man who plays Smeagol also plays Worm tongue?

Yeah yeah. I'm a dork, I know, but i'm proud of it.

~Momo