James Norbury and Alex Felstead are on an epic quest to hike 500 kilometers (over 300 miles) on the North Island of New Zealand. They’re doing this to recreate the journey Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee take in J.R.R Tolkien’s fantasy novel series, The Lord of the Rings. And yes, they’re dressed up like Hobbits. And yes, they have a ring.
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Norbury and Felstead are currently two weeks into their journey to take their ring from the Hobbiton film set in Matamata all the way to Mount Ngāuruhoe—aka Mount Doom. In the films, Frodo and Sam set off from their home in the Shire (filmed at the Hobbiton film set, which you can totally visit) and take a dangerous quest to Mordor and, specifically, Mount Doom (filmed at Mount Ngāuruhoe) to destroy the evil ring and save Middle Earth.
Like Frodo and Sam, the two modern-day trekkers are making the journey on foot and by canoe. So far, Norbury and Felstead have run into some challenges, including an electric fence, rough rapids, and some tough trails they had to bushwhack their way through. Norbury is sharing frequent updates about their quest on Instagram.
Watch videos of two friends recreating Frodo’s quest to destroy the One Ring here: