Sara sends in this report from her fun day at the ROTK Red Carpet Parade in Wellington:
Hey to all the great folks at ToRN,
Just spent the entire day camped outside the Embassy Theatre to catch all the action at the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Premiere!
Wow, what a day!
The Sun was beating down relentlessly and I’m seriously feeling the burns now, but it was worth the wait! I made my way down to the Embassy Theatre at about 10 this morning, and there I was met by all the fans that were serious about getting an autograph, some had camped out all night, some came at six this morning, while I — seeing as I was at the Return of the Ringers party last night — slept in and came late, but none the less I got a good spot for star spotting! Right behind the press area.
They had the huge screen so we could all watch the parade as it wound its way from the houses of Parliment along Lambton Quay, Willis Street, Mercer, Wakefield Cuba, and Manners St. and finally where they joined the Red Carpet at Courtenay! It was fantastic to see, the reception they recived was something else! They were fanfared by Easterlings, Hobbits, Rohirrim and Elves all the way. The wait was a long one, but so worth it! They showed all the fans their appreciation by signing and taking pictures!!
Got some great pics, and all the stars were gracious enough to answer the fans calls and hoots and give us a wave! Liv passed by first and rather quickly. She walked the whole length of the red carpet in her bare feet so as to be able to talk with everyone she could! How sweet is that? Liv is followed by David Wenham, Billy and Sean, then Elijah, Bernard Hill, and John Noble, JRD, Bruce Hopkins and Peter Jackson, Andy and Viggo and lastly Hugo and Orlando, who as always got a warm welcome! I didn’t see Dom, till he was on the stage! It just so happed I was behind ToRN’s one and only Quickbeam, so all the stars made a great effort to talk with him and thanks to that I got some great photos! Thank you!!!!!
Alas no signatures and my ROTK book remains, sadly, empty! But there were some kindly news guys who took upclose photos with ppls cameras for them.
The stars were ushered to the podium and after some speeches by Barry Osbourne, the Mayor, and Prime Minister. Peter then took to the stage to say his thank yous. To the people of Wellinton and New Zealand, his partner Fran Walsh and to all the cast and Crew, Weta, Richard Taylor and Philippa Boyens.
The each cast member came to the mic and said their thank yous! And some, like Sean Astin’s were very moving. They posed for several group shots and afterward were ushered away! The crowd loved every minute of it and at the end of the day I’ll always be so pleased to say that I was here for this once in a lifetime event.
Slan and Merry Christmas to all!
Sara
