This week has been the hottest since I arrived and has seen the mania of The Hobbit and a new arrival to my life!
On Wednesday I did some filming, had a massage! Then I strolled into the city centre to see if I could get a glimpse of The Hobbit parade. On the way I felt obliged to stop and donate some money to charity in exchange for Strawberries and icecream – the hardest sponsorship I have ever made! I eat my icecream happy in the knowledge of being able to help people by eating icecream under a Christmas tree in the heat listening to carols! Suitably refreshed I went to Courtney Place which is the street the red carpet ran along. As I went, I heard people saying ‘Bro did you see how packed Courtney Place is now!’ so I didn’t hold out much hope for seeing stars. But unlike London, obviously, the crowds were barely one person deep along the fence of the red carpet. I found a spot at the start of the red carpet and be-friended some Brits that were travelling. They said they would hold my place while I had a quick noisey up the rest of the route. It was a great party atmosphere with loads of Hobbits dancing and so many Gandalfs I could feel the magic ;-) The cinema which was screening the film normally looks a little run down but it was a fantastic sight-seeing them creating a Bag End entrance to the theatre. I also popped into the small Hobbit village but some things were good but not that special unless you had a few hundred $ to spend on a ‘real’ elvish cloak!
As I got back to the spot the crowd was only 2-3 people deep! I can deal with this type of big event. An hr before the stars arrived it did get more busy. The crowds were entertained by Hobbits dancing, music, free hobbit hats (see photo) and autograph sheets , then seeing the nervous TV presenters prepping for all the interviews – I did feel for them as I knew the names of maybe 4 people there! Then the cars started arriving and it was mad – like being in the mosh pit while trying to get autographs and photographs. Peter Jackson was the first to arrive and he had his interview in front of us! I took A LOT of photos – well … I’ve never been a punter at one of these things so wanted to play the part! To be honest I really didn’t know who a lot of them were but had looked at a few hobbit images beforehand so recognised a few faces. Im sure the screams for more people will be louder next year when people recognise the actors!
All round a very fun time and the weather was brilliant and hot – luckily for the hobbit hat it kept everyone shaded – very good preparedness!
Thursday welcomed the new arrival – Brian! Though I am always keen to take the unwanted 2nd hand bikes, there are NO 2nd hand bike stores here due to expensive licencing issues, so the only place for used bikes is on websites like Gumtree etc. but nothing was of interest. I am not a ‘roady’ (road bike) and not a confident ‘mounty’ (mountain bike) so was looking for a hybrid/cross-trail bike which I have to say was a mission – curse my neutrality! After much deliberation and searching I finally bought a bike! Brian is a mountain bike with thinner wheels so I can hope that one day I will have the confidence to go down the tracks around Welly but also get about town and the tarmac hills! I want to thank the leaving presents from City Lit and NDCS for contributing to being able to get Brian. I went for a little ride today and found out how close some towns really are so this is going to be useful. A lot of people cycle on the motorway here on the hard shoulder which makes me shiver. I will not be doing this but need to learn some of the routes alongside the main roads so can get out to the big mountains and to Lower Hutt etc. The weather has got windy here– well ok gale force – so will probably wait till Monday to try the route into Wellington which is either on pavement beside main road or a nice hilly windy road and so I will choose the later!
Next week Candida and Matt come to town so will look forward to some fun times with them.
Noho ora mai rā, nā Abi
