the august fellowship

I met the “August Fellowship” (as they would come to call themselves) on a rainy Thursday evening. I sloshed my way down Taranaki Street to the Green Parrot restaurant, where I met the group for dinner. They arrived minutes before I did, and the small eatery was nothing but a flourish of winter coats when I walked through the door. I made my way over to the long table that had been set up for us, and ran into Vic first. Wearing his usual rugby polo, Koru necklace, and warm smile, he gave me a slightly damp hug.

“Wellington weather,” he said with a chuckle. “This is why I live in Auckland.”

Before I could reply, a delighted “Oh!!” caught my attention, and I soon found myself in Raewyn’s embrace.

“It’s so lovely to see you! I’m so glad you could make it. You found it all right?” Vic’s similarly plump and jolly wife Raewyn didn’t even wait for me to respond, but instead took me by the elbow and led me over to the large table. “Come, come, let me introduce you.”

One person at the table needed no introduction, however. As soon as she spotted me with Raewyn, Josephine was out of her seat and beckoning me into my third hug of the evening. Josephine, a small Taiwanese woman with a big love for all things “Lord of the Rings,” had been one of my tourmates three years previously. Still bundled in her red, puffy down jacket and floppy knit hat, she looked exactly as I remembered her.

“She is part of my fellowship,” Josephine explained to the rest of the group, who had, by that point, taken notice of me.

“Yes, that’s right!” Raewyn said, just remembering herself. “Josephine and Amanda were both on our July 2005 tour. Isn’t that lovely?”

“And now Amanda’s studying here in Wellington,” Vic chimed in from the other end of the long table. Everyone greeted me, and began introducing themselves.

“We’ve heard all about you,” Dulce said as she gently shook my hand.

“I’ve heard about you, too,” I told her, indicating her and her new English husband, Anthony. The couple had met on a Red Carpet Tour in 2006, and kept in contact when they returned home to Portugal and England, respectively. After Dulce divorced her first husband, her relationship with Anthony grew stronger. The couple were married in July 2008, and they chose a second Red Carpet Tour for their honeymoon. Raewyn calls it one of RCT’s “sweetest stories.”

After shaking a quiet Anthony’s hand, as well, I was introduced to Mary and Susi. Both American expatriates, Mary (now from Germany) and Susi (now from Italy) were the oldest, most seasoned members of the tour, and referred to themselves as “veterans.” This would mark their third journey through Middle-Earth with Vic and Raewyn.

“I just can’t help myself.” Susi shrugged, pausing to brush a strand of long, grey hair behind her ear. “I can’t stay away.” Susi now helps Vic and Raewyn promote Red Carpet Tours overseas, and at various conventions.

And though Raewyn said there has been a trend recently toward “reunion tours,” the August group did have three fresh faces, each of them eager to experience Middle-Earth for the first time.

There was Charlotte from Germany, who was planning to remain in New Zealand for six months following the tour in order to work. There was Lisa, a California grad student who had been visiting a friend in Auckland and stumbled upon Red Carpet Tours accidentally three days before this particular tour left.

“Talk about last minute,” she laughed.

And there was Echo, a Disney employee with a very precise way of speaking. The group, true to Red Carpet form, was diverse in every way possible. But, here, things like age and nationality were secondary attributes. The only feature that really matters in Red Carpet Tour members is their passion for “Lord of the Rings.” And, with the majority of the August Fellowship embarking on their second and third tours, their passion was certainly not in question.

Dinner progressed amicably, with me mostly listening to the conversation going on around me and sneaking quick peeks at the large mural on the wall at my back. The Green Parrot is traditionally the first stop upon arrival in Wellington for Red Carpet groups partially because of this mural. Along with everyday kiwis and a few political figure heads, the mural also depicts director Peter Jackson, the hobbit Samwise Gamgee, the elven princess Arwen, and Viggo Mortensen, the actor who portrayed Aragorn in the films. It’s said that the Green Parrot was Mortensen’s favorite Wellington eatery, and so that automatically makes it worth going to for a “Lord of the Rings” fan.

“I thought maybe they change it,” Josephine said when she noticed me looking back at the mural. “But I’m glad they don’t.”

Halfway through our meal, Raewyn came down to my end of the table with another guest in tow. Erica Challis, a Wellington native, had also joined the group for dinner. Erica is a journalist and founder of the fan Web site theonering.net, and provided Vic with suggestions on possible tour locations and contacts with land owners during the development process of Red Carpet Tours. She caught Vic’s attention during the early filming of the trilogy when she was served a trespass notice by New Line Cinema for trying to get onto a site.

“I knew she was exactly the person we wanted to be working with,” Vic said. “Someone willing to go that far to find out what was going on.”

Raewyn and Erica planted themselves opposite me.

“I thought we’d come down here to have a chat to you,” Raewyn said. “That end of the table –” she motioned to Vic, “is a bit boring anyway.” She then laughed her high, tinkling laugh that I remember loving so much, and introduced me to Erica.

Erica Challis, upon first glance, doesn’t at all strike you as a hard-hitting journalist. Certainly not the type of journalist who would let herself get into trouble in order to get a story. Erica is soft-spoken and a little nervous in groups. She has twitchy habits like playing with her hair and letting her eyes dart around the room. But she’s friendly and passionate, and we talked briefly about Massey University (where she got her degree, and where I was currently studying) and its journalism program.

We were interrupted, however, when the large Maori group at the table next to us broke out a ukulele and began singing “Happy Birthday.”

“One of them’s an MP – Member of Parliament,” Erica said, indicating a weathered-looking man two seats down from the ukulele.

“Oh, how lovely!” Raewyn exclaimed, and began clapping along with the song. Susi, down at the other end of the table, even joined in on singing “Happy Birthday.” Once the song was finished, the Maori table cheered, and our table burst into giggles.

“I love New Zealand,” Lisa said.