Tourists flock to Wellington for Rings weekend

2.00pm - By CATHY ARONSON

Wellington is buzzing with tourists who have flocked to the capital for Monday's premiere of The Return of the King, the final film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The city, hometown of director Peter Jackson, has been transformed into a film set, with props and posters in every second shop window.

At the city's airport, a giant Gollum statue sits on top of the terminal building and sets from the first two movies line the corridors.

Hotels are booked out and the only available accommodation is out of town.

Darren Bekhor from London and Jenny Ahlin from Sweden spent five hours searching for somewhere to stay when they arrived in Wellington on Thursday.

They finally found the last spot at a camping site 15km out of town.

"Everyone laughed at us when we asked for a room," said Mr Bekhor.

The couple came to New Zealand to see relatives and timed the trip to coincide with the premiere.

They have already done a tour of film locations in Queenstown and plan to do one in Wellington tomorrow.

Tourists also flocked to Viggo Mortensen's photography exhibition of photos taken while he lived in Wellington during filming.

Mortensen, the actor who plays Aragorn, opened the exhibition at the Michael Hirschfeld Gallery yesterday.

Lauren Kolligs from New York said she loved his rather abstract photography.

"He's a really good artist. He's not just a hollywood actor, he really has a vision and he's willing to enjoy the journey."

Most tourists were easy to pick as they stood in the Civic Centre taking photos of the giant orc.

* It's a Lord of the Rings weekend at nzherald.co.nz. Join us throughout this weekend for updates from Wellington as the city prepares to host Monday's world premiere of Part 3 in the Rings trilogy: The Return of the King.

Herald Feature: Lord of the Rings

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