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| Monday 20th March 2000 | Page 2 of 12 |
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Although my interest was definitely sparked, I had already dismissed
the idea the film crew - if indeed they even were a film crew - could
be working on Xena: Warrior Princess. After all, this area of Waiti Stream had appeared very recently in Eternal Bonds,
so why would they be back here so soon? The western Auckland region is
a real boom area for film and television production generally, and the
west coast is featured regularly in both, as well as commercials, so
this crew could literally be working on anything. With this in mind, I
carried on walking around the stream to Lake Wainamu and spent some
time at the edge of the calm water, taking a stack of photographs as I
went and savouring the incredible vista featured in many episodes.
Happy with the success of this visit, I then began to retrace my steps,
intending to head home. On the way back, I decided to walk around the top edge of the dunes rather than at ground level, because if what I'd seen had indeed been a film crew, there would be a much better view from higher up. When I reached that point again, there didn't seem to be much going on at all - the horses still grazed quietly, the vehicles were deserted and I speculated that if filming was in progress, it was probably out of sight in the adjacent valley, which is private land and thus inaccessible. I couldn't hear any signs of action coming from anywhere, and the only thing out of the ordinary was the presence of a jeep which periodically circled around and over the top of the dunes, out of sight. But by that point, I just wasn't feeling up to another fifty feet or so of climbing to investigate further! |
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The production vehicles, parked adjacent to Waiti Stream Note the horses and horse box |
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A closer-up shot of the production vehicles Note the temporary horse enclosure. Neither of the "usual suspects" appeared to be present! |
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The vehicles seen from the other side More trucks and other vehicles were parked nearby |
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Horse box, horses and temporary enclosure This site is very near the location of Boadicea's face-off with the Roman soliders in The Deliverer |
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The adjacent valley This is initially where I suspected filming may be in progress |