Orlando Bloom wheels into town

The Hobbit's biggest stars have arrived in Nelson, with Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom spotted at the city's airport. Nelson freelance cameraman Ross Wearing got a tip-off that The Hobbit crew were arriving on a chartered plane yesterday and went along to snap the stars.

Wearing said Bloom was putting a mountainbike and luggage into a vehicle and talking to other cast members. "Orlando wanted to know who I was and where I came from. I just told him I lived here. It is not every day these sorts of guys come to town," he said.

Wearing said he also saw Luke Evans and James Nesbitt, who plays the two-part film's main character, Bilbo Baggins.

"They all left the airport in four-wheel-drives and some of them were spotted in town last night eating out and all that," he said. Production company 3 Foot 7 was in the region last month, filming the Sir Peter Jackson-directed movie at Canaan Downs on Takaka Hill and other venues.

They will return to Canaan Downs for more filming and have also been based at the Pelorus Bridge Campground between Nelson and Marlborough.

The Press NZ