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After 25 years of searching I can't believe I've found it at last - a hotel that knows how to do scrambled eggs properly (soft and runny, not dry and rubbery)! The breakfast at The Duxton sets me up for the day, and after almost eight hours sleep, albeit with an early 6am start which I use for uploading the Day 1 web log I feel ready to tackle anything.
It's a fairly restful day today - a trip to the Te Papa museum, just across the road from the hotel, and then an invitation to attend the Gala re-opening of The Embassy Theatre, after a refurbishment programme that has cost over $4 million and has apparently been necessary to bring the venue up to scratch for the world premiere of 'Return of the King' next Monday.
		A quick tour of the Te Papa museum impresses - the space and layout is excellent in a building that has been built to survive earthquakes, apparently able to shift half a metre horizontally without damage. The museum exhibits actually start on the second floor to avoid problems should an earthquake cause problems with flooding. Entrance to the museum is free but a guided tour of the 'highlights' is available for NZ$9 (about £4) and as the price includes a $2 'explorer' guide, I sign up for the afternoon tour as I've just missed the morning one. Filling in time, I look around Wellington, walking a little further than on my first day, and I stumble on another huge Weta sculpture - this time the stone troll, some distance from Courtenay Place and actually affixed to the side of a government building. I'm beginning to wonder what else there might be that I might have missed. I can see the giant Gandalf stamp poster from my room at The Duxton, but I suspect there may be a complete set of all the stamps to be found around the City. I foolishly grab lunch at the Te Papa - fast food is never good, but the chicken served here must be the worst I've had in many a year, and it's a shame that a museum that is so superlative in so many other ways is let down by its in-house restaurant. With good cafes just around the corner I'd avoid eating here unless you have kids who just don't want to walk round the corner. After lunch I meet my guide 'Rama' at the allotted time of 2pm and discover, to my horror, that I am the only person on the tour as a party of nine 'friends of Te Papa' have cancelled at the last minute. It turns out to my advantage, as I get a very personal and informative tour of the museum. Rama's enthusiasm and obvious love of the museum is much in evidence, and I learn so much more than a simple 'read the placards' walk-through would have taught me. I can't praise the museum or recommend the guided tour highly enough and this should be on the 'must do' list of any visitor to Wellington. Rama tells me that she misses the 'Lord of the Rings' exhibition that started here but is now staged at The London Science Museum, admitting she is more a fan of the exhibition than she is a fan of the movies - a position I can well understand, since I have several friends who feel the same way. At 3pm I meet up with my good friend Brian Sibley, who has arrived in New Zealand this morning, and he's able to guide me towards some of the better eating houses. We exchange gossip and enjoy a coffee in the sun. After a couple of days rushing around Wellington it's good to see a friendly, familiar face. Sadly, Brian is not able to attend the Gala Opening of The Embassy tonight, but as I have two tickets Yvonne, a friend of a friend and a native Wellingtonian, is accompanying me so I'm not going to feel totally like 'Johnny Nomates' at this event, and she proves great fun and excellent company. The ticket invite for the gala premiere advises "dress for the occasion" but both Yvonne and I feel somewhat over-dressed (I'm wearing a tux) as dress code varies from jeans and scruffy shirt to suit and tie, with every possible combination inbetween. The first thing we notice, stepping over the threshold, is the strong smell of fresh paint. It seems work has been going on right up to the last minute. The entrance to the cinema is actually up some stairs and there we find film school members acting as waiters and ready to serve us with champagne and hors d'oevres. I'm hopeless at this sort of 'gala' function, and extremely grateful for Yvonne's company as we have a good old natter. We've been chatting for about 5 minutes when a radio interviewer approaches to ask me 'What's your favourite feature of the refurbishment?'. It's hard for me to comment as I haven't had much of a look around, but thankfully Yvonne comes to the rescue, having known the theatre before the refurbishment. A few minutes later I have to make my exit as the bow tie I've worn on only two previous occasions falls apart thanks to poor stitching. Oh dear! 5 minutes later gesticulating wildly to some Kiwi's that Yvonne has introduced me to I knock over a glass of champagne which thankfully just ruins my dinner jacket and NOT the expensive camera it's next to. The expressions 'dressed up like a dog's dinner' and 'bull in a china shop' come to mind, for some reason! Photographers are everywhere, but I find it hard to get inspired taking pictures of people I don't know in an area that's getting busier by the minute. I suspect Robert Catto, who I've exchanged emails with, is one of those flashing away but it's hard to know with so many photographers around, and I decide to take 'an evening off' from taking pictures - which is why the photo's of the guest speakers shown here are so bad - taken from too far away with a weak flash because I couldn't be bothered to get up from my seat. At 8.30pm we're ushered into the new cinema for a viewing of Peter Jackson's 'Heavenly Creatures'. The cinema is much smaller than I'd expected it to be (no wonder they are needing to also use the multiplex down the road to accommodate everyone for the world premiere) but impressive nonetheless. We sit in the 'gold' seats which prove to be the comfiest seats I've ever sat on in a cinema - too comfy as it turns out. I'm not feeling jet lagged but a darkened room and comfy seats mean I'm suddenly strugging to stay awake, as my occasional snore will attest (poor Yvonne must have wished she could pretend she wasn't with me). The movie, which I'd only seen for the first time a few weeks ago, could never be presented in a better environment: the sound system is incredible and the screen, apparently specced by Peter Jackson himself, is huge and gives a superb picture. I wish there were a cinema in London this comfortable and impressive - I'd be there every weekend, and to hell with the home plasma TV and DVDs! Before the movie starts we get an introductory talk from the Trust chairman, who is rightly proud of what has been accomplished on a very tight schedule. He is followed by Wellington mayor, Kerry Prendergast, who talks about the risks the council took in asking tax payers to undewrite the refurbishment (one newspaper report reveals that each Wellington tax payer has paid $12 towards the cost of refurbishment). Noticeably absent is Peter Jackson, who has supported the Trust appeal, and who, if newspaper reports are to be believed, had been expected to attend. I overhear quite a few expressions of disappointment, even though Jackson is present in spirit simply because his name crops up so often in the speeches made by other guests, and because his movies have been chosen to launch the refurbished venue to the world at large. After the movie I try and find the 'platinum' seat I have sponsored in my partner's name. These seats turn out to be very, very plush in soft brown leather, and I am really pleased with the way the theatre have placed the sponsors names on the seat arms themselves with a nice scroll motif on wood, and with names also appearing on two 'roll of honour' notices in the main foyer. My experience throughout my sponsorship has been nothing but positive and the Trust come over as a class act. I do hope that more Wellingtonians support this excellent theatre as it instigates new fund-raising events to help with the costs incurred in carrying out this major refurbishment. Alas, I just don't get time to find the seats for those friends who've asked me to photograph 'their' seats as there are so many to hunt down, but hopefully I might get a chance after the press premiere, which is thankfully taking place here on Sunday.
It's been another excellent day but, at the end of it, I'm more than ready for some sleep and have an early rise tomorrow for hotel check-out and a visit to Weta Workshop. Despite a five and a half hour wait at Wellington airport and being stuck in Auckland traffic jams, I have an absolutely fantastic day, more of which will be recounted tomorrow! Footnote: I've had some emails from seat purchasers disappointed they can't see their seats around the time of the premiere (all seat owners have been invited to a special screening of 'The Frighteners' tomorrow night, but not all can attend then). As I understand it the reasons for this are tightened security, at the insistence of New Line, once the print of 'Return of the King' has been delivered to the cinema around November 28th. Unfortunately this security will stay in place until around noon on 2nd December, which means that with the best will in the world those fans on the FIRST Red Carpet tour ("Gondor"), which leaves Wellington at the crack of dawn on 2nd December, won't get a chance to see their seats. The Embassy Trust folks are working with Vic from Red Carpet to try and ensure that those on the SECOND Red Carpet tour ("Rohan") get an opportunity at 2pm on 2nd December to see their seats. Stay tuned for future reports (indicated by a photo appearing in the main Itinerary calendar) Back to Day 1 report Forward to Day 3 report
Don't forget you can check out reports of lots of other Lord of the Rings -themed events in the Web Logs section

Email: ian@iansmith.co.uk