stories

As we drove through the undulating farm country, Vic kept us occupied with stories – stories of New Zealand, stories about how Red Carpet Tours came into being, and some of his favorite tour stories. He passed around Red Carpet Tours brochures, photos, and even a book a devoted Ringer made. When it comes to “Lord of the Rings” fans visiting Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth, it seems as if nothing is too crazy or ridiculous.

“What’s the weirdest thing someone’s done on a tour?” Jen piped up from the back. She was still browsing through the book Vic had passed back to us, eyeing fans posing in full Rings attire – weapons often included – in various locations. From mountaintops to upscale hotel lobbies, it seems you can never go wrong wearing a pair of hobbit feet.

Vic thought about it for a moment, then started chuckling.

“There have been some really… unique individuals on our tours,” he began. “But, personally, I think the time I remember feeling strangest was during a tour we did with about 80 Japanese.” That tour, Vic went on to explain, entailed multiple tour buses, a translator, and a good majority of non-English-speaking tourists.

“We had arranged to have dinner with Craig Parker – the local Kiwi actor who played the elf Haldir in the films. Apparently he’s very popular in Asia, because when he walked into the room, the young Asian women started screaming, and then crying.”

“Like, actually crying?” Una asked, peeling her eye away from her camera’s viewfinder long enough for me to glimpse a look of mild horror on her face.

“Actually crying,” Vic said with a nod. “Yeah,” he mused, “that was certainly an interesting tour. I don’t know if I’ll ever forget the sight of 80 Japanese following me up the side of Mount Victoria, every one of them wearing a hobbit cloak.” We all began laughing, picturing cloak-clad Japanese women (Vic said there were only eight men on that tour) skirting the side of the mountain in downtown Wellington that we all knew so well. We had all climbed parts of it ourselves – though, admittedly, in much less theatrical garb.