Paradise, New Zealand
Template:Short description Template:Use New Zealand English Template:Use dmy dates
Paradise is a rural locality in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It lies on the eastern side of the Dart River / Te Awa Whakatipu at the head of Lake Wakatipu, close to the settlement of Glenorchy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The surrounding area is used for sheep and cattle farming.Template:Citation needed The locality has also been used as a setting in films and television.
Art, entertainment, and media
Films
- The locality was used during filming of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, wherein it represented Parth Galen and parts of Lothlórien, specifically the area which the Fellowship first enters.
- It was also used in The Hobbit trilogy, for scenes of the exterior of Beorn's house.
Television
- The locality was used as the setting for much of the BBC miniseries Top of the Lake, although filming of the latter took place in the nearby town of Glenorchy.Template:Citation needed
Origin of the name
A.W. Reed recorded that the locality was first known as Paradise Flat, and that a popular (but not universally accepted) view attributes the name to an abundance of paradise shelducks.<ref name="Reed">Template:ReedPlacenames1975, pp. 319–320.</ref> Another contention, supported by Alfred Duncan's article, "Paradise and the Maori" in the Lake Wakatip Mail, in 1860, suggests that the area was named because of its beauty.<ref name="Reed"/>