Methven is a small town in the Canterbury

Canterbury, New Zealand

The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...

 region of the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

 of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It is located near the western edge of the Canterbury Plains

Canterbury Plains

The Canterbury Plains are an area in New Zealand centred to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury Region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in the south they merge into the plains of North Otago beyond the Waitaki...

, 35 kilometres north of Ashburton

Ashburton, New Zealand

Ashburton is a town and district in the Canterbury Region on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the third-largest centre in Canterbury, after Christchurch and Timaru. The area around Ashburton is frequently referred to as Mid Canterbury, which is also the name of the...

. It was originally the railhead of a short branch railway off the Main South Line

Main South Line

The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railroad line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Invercargill via Dunedin...

. Branching off from Rakaia

Rakaia

The town of Rakaia is seated close to the southern banks of the Rakaia River on the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island, on State Highway 1 and the Main South Line. Immediately north of the township are the country's longest road bridge and longest rail bridge, both of which cross the...

, the Methven Branch

Methven Branch

The Methven Branch was a branch line railway that was part of New Zealand's national rail network in Canterbury. It opened in 1880 and operated until 1976.-Construction:...

 travelled through Lauriston

Lauriston

Lauriston is an area of central Edinburgh, Scotland. The former location of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, the area is undergoing a major re-development known as Quartermile...

 and Lyndhurst to Methven and operated from 1880 until 1976.

It is a rural service town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 throughout the year, but undergoes a stark transformation in winter. Mount Hutt

Mount Hutt, New Zealand

Mount Hutt rises to the west of the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand, above the braided upper reaches of the Rakaia River, and 80 kilometres west of Christchurch...

 skifield

Skiing

Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....

 is around half an hour away from Methven, the closest town. As such, a number of cafes, bars, and restaurants lie relatively dormant over the summer months. Similarly, the town's accommodation providers have a strongly seasonal trade. In addition to skiing, another popular attraction is hot air balloon

Hot air balloon

The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...

ing, the annual Mountain Thunder motorcyle street-races and the annual rodeo. Mount Hutt college is Methven's main school and has a very popular Outdoor Pursuits class available which attracts students from all over the country.

The population was 1326 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 192 from 2001.

Methven is home to Rajah

Rajah (dog)

Rajah the German Shepherd Dog was a working and performance dog in New Zealand during the 1930s. Rajah is credited with being the first police dog in New Zealand and was nominated as a replacement for Rin Tin Tin after his death...

, New Zealand's first police dog

Police dog

A police dog, often referred to as a "K-9 dog" in some areas , is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work...

.

Methven also served as a base to cast and crew for the filming of Edoras (located further inland), for The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...

.