MATAMATA The town of Hobbiton was built during the middle of 1998 on a piece of farm just outside the Waikato town of Matamata.
Filming didn't start until late 1999, a year after the building was completed, to allow time for the the small village to age and the gardens to grow.
TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK
The central North Island region of Ruapehu, just south of Lake Taupo, was used for the scenes of Mordor and Mt Doom. Most of the filming was done on the volcano Tongariro for these scenes and the now famous volcano, Ruapehu, was not used at all.
Tongariro has some great walking tracks that take you to the very top of the mountain from which spectacular views of Ruapehu, Ngaruahoe and Lake Taupo can be seen.
KAITOKE REGIONAL PARK (my favorite - too bad it was blue screen)
Kaitoke Regional Park is situated north of Upper Hutt and features steep bush-clad hills that shelter the Hutt River gorge. Rimu, kahikatea, rata and beech forests are features of this park.
It was here that scenes for Rivendell were shot.
THE HUTT VALLEY
The Hutt Valley comprises the two cities of Upper and Lower Hutt situated just north of Wellington.
Scenes from Isengard, Minas Tirith, Minas Mogul and Helm's Deep were shot here.
WELLINGTON
New Zealand's capital city, Wellington is home to Weta Studios. Scenes from Bree, The Shire, Mines of Moria, Cirith Ungol, Weathertop hillside were shot in various locations around the city including the slopes of Mt Victoria in the heart of Wellington city.
MT OWEN
Mt Owen is located in the Kahurangi National Park. The park covers 452,000 hectares and is the second largest park in New Zealand. Located in the northwestern corner of the South Island many of the features seen in Kahurangi National Park are unique to New Zealand.
Mt Owen was used to shoot scenes of Dimrill Dale.
MT SUNDAY
Set in deepest mid-Canterbury, against the backdrop of the Southern Alps, the mystical city of Edoras, with watchtowers and a massive palace, was built on the top of Mt Sunday, just over 70 minutes drive southwest of Methven.
SOUTHERN ALPS
North of Queenstown, the Southern Alps were used as the setting for the Misty Mountains.
TWIZEL
Twizel is a small service town in the Mackenzie Country between Queenstown and Lake Tekapo and was used for filming scenes of the Pelennor Fields.
ARROWTOWN
The historic gold mining town of Arrowtown, situated on the Arrow River and just outside Queenstown, was used for filming scenes from the Ford of Bruinin.
Arrowtown has a strong café and wine bar culture, award winning restaurants, top of the line shops and even its' own cinema.
GLENORCHY
Glenorchy is situated at the head of Lake Wakatipu just 48kms from Queenstown and is the gateway to many of the Mount Aspiring National Park walks including the Routeburn, Caples, Greenstone, Rees Valley and Dart Valley.
The region was used for shooting scenes of Lothlorien, Fangorn and Amon Hen.
MAVORA LAKES
The beautiful Mavora Lakes in Southland was the setting for 6 sites including Nen Hithoel.
In the movie, hairy-footed hobbits and stench-ridden Orcs can be seen against the backdrop of familiar Te Anau settings.
Mavora Lakes Park is an impressive landscape of mountains, lakes, forest and tussock grassland, recognised as part of the South-West New Zealand World Heritage Area - Te Waipounamu.
TE ANAU
The Kepler Mire was used to shoot scenes of the Dead Marshes.
Kepler Mire is the largest of the wetlands in the Te Anau Basin wetland complex and is the largest known string bog in New Zealand. It is a very rare type of wetland in the Southern Hemisphere as it is found mostly in arctic conifer forest in high northern latitudes.
IDA VALLEY
The Ida Valley, inland from Dunedin, was used for filming scenes from the Plains of Rohan.
Hello???????? 
KEWL! The colors have begun out where I live!
