Monday, June 30, 2014

Report: Welly-moot #3.3, a quiet but fun meeting

Today's meeting was a relatively small but fun get-together. Everyone brought their own experiences in Middle-earth and we shared our stories.

Jack opened the meeting of eight people; Jack, Alex, Franziska, Martin, Annabel, Wayne, and Ash & Cinnamon. We took turns giving updates about current Hobbit related events; everything from Hobbit 3's first viewing date, to the planned expansion of Wellington's airport runway.

Jack, and a rare photo of Alex, who usually takes the photos (thanks Annabel for sneaking this one in!)



Martin brought a copy of The Hobbit 2 Official Movie Guide (by Brian Sibley), and shared his Laketown experience as an extra. He does end up appearing in the movie, so that was all worth it.


Martyn (right) shows his scenes in the movie to Franziska (left) & Cinnamon (centre)



Ash brought his Sting replica, which is a beautifully made United Cutlery weapon. Compare with many unofficial replicas, it is so well made; beautifully decorated and gorgeous Elven patterns, and the real leather sheath still smells fresh.

Martyn, and Ash with Sting

Cinnamon shared her photos with the actors and crew from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. It seems she's managed to meet quite a few of them, including John Rhys-Davies.

The highlight of the day was Franziska’s presentation. She brought her laptop and had prepared a slideshow of her experiences in New Zealand's Middle-earth. She has been to many Lord of the Rings and Hobbit filming locations in NZ, and has met many people who have been involved these movies. You can find her wonderful experiences on her blog, Hebin thîr lîn mi nguren, as well as (a lot!) of fan-art about Middle-earth's elves.

Franziska has had a great year in New Zealand


Sadly, Franziska is leaving NZ and will return to Germany soon. Franziska, from everyone at the Welly-moot, thank you for bringing your enthusiasm and passion. We will miss you…at least until you return, which I'm sure will happen at some stage!

Franziska also baked some Lembas for the group. None left, sorry.


We had some discussions about what activities we can do or join for the release of the last Hobbit movie this December. There are some possibilities, however none of them are certain yet. We will keep everyone informed of any updates on this website.


After the meeting, we paid a visit to the Weta Cave. Some of members have not been there for a while and as it was the 60th anniversary of the release of LOTR, they had some great specials on some of their books. We had a quick chat with the staff and a number of Lord of the Rings tour guides who were just at the shop, and we took a photo with Franziska, and Tom the Trolls.


Wayme, Cinnamon, Ash, Jack, Alex, and Franziska, with Tom the Troll outside the Weta Cave



Till next meeting!

Monday, June 23, 2014

Heads-up! Welly-moot #3.3 this coming Sunday 29th of June!

The next Welly-moot will be on Sunday, June 29th, 2:00pm, downstairs at the Roxy Cinema (Miramar). I realise this is a later warning than usual, but hopefully we'll get enough people to make it worthwhile.

This time we're going to try to set up downstairs if we can swing it. Upstairs the high ceilings seemed toimpede smooth conversations a little, but if we can get a table downstairs I think that may help somewhat.

Given the late warning for the meeting, I want to leave the theme a pretty vague one. We're making this one a good old fashioned Show'n'Tell. Come and talk to us about your own experiences in Middle-earth, in whatever way. Maybe Middle-earth is New Zealand for you, maybe not. Everyone has their own story to tell, so come and tell it! If you've got any "props" to help you tell the story, take it along as well!

Alternatively, come and enjoy a cup of coffee while listening to other people's stories. This isn't 3rd grade - you won't HAVE to do a speech!

 - Jack