Quint has posted the latest in his occasional series of reports (links below) from the New Zealand sets of The Hobbit from his several months long visit. This addition continues his experience at NZ's North Island, specifically Ohakune where Mount Ruapelu is. The mountain was used as portions of Mount Doom but I suspect here it is being used for portions of Smaug's mountain stronghold. As a sign of respect to the Ngati Uenuku and Ngati Rangi tribes who hold the mountain sacred (and gave permission to film there), the cast and crew participated in a ceremony on their off day. A wooded area near the mountain, Ohakune Beech Paddock, was used for a horseback ride scene as the company of Bilbo, dwarves and Gandalf just outside of The Shire including a moment of Bilbo being deposited on his horse by two dwarves. To read the full details on the ceremony, more into how the scene was put together along with a look at crew member Jared Connon, the supervising location manager (aka hunter of awesome locations for the movie) click here.

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

AICN's The Hobbit Set Report Part 6. There are any AICN's The Hobbit Set Report Part 6 in here.