| I asked Peter Jackson the other day whether I would finish as
was long since planned: he was confident that we would finish on
schedule. I asked because I am beginning to need an end in
sight. It's the same with a long job in the theatre. Judi Dench and
I used to cross the days off on the dressing-room mirror at the Fortune
Theatre — matinee days we did it twice. I'm feeling nothing
like that. Indeed, my enthusiasm for the New Zealand
I've seen beyond the movie's locations has been an added reward for a year's work away
from home. |
Ian McKellen
New Zealand, 2000
Photo by Keith Stern
|
Chasing the Right Whale in Golden Bay
September, 2000
|
Of late I've flown over Milford Sound, that
aweful fjord which Wordsworth would have loved; I've woken up to
find a Right Whale cavorting in the shallows of Golden Bay below my
digs at Golden Bay Lodge (with Mary and Ray Nelson), flapping its
fin and waving its tail and snorting out of its barnacled head: and
I've had supper with Edmund and June Hillary in Wellington. |
| Sir Ed is a star. Eighty years old and still
revelling in it. After being lucky enough to have his chance, he has
taken it to summit after summit. First Everest: then the
all-conquering lecture tours and the books. The "race" to
the South Pole in a farmer's tractor, the hunt for the non-existent
Yeti and the source of the river Ganges. Above all soars the
munificent work amongst the Nepalese and the Sherpa families for
whom his fund-raising has built hospitals, schools and now a
teachers' training college. The NZ High Commissioner (i.e.
Ambassador) to India
is the subject of a major documentary by Tom Scott, the
Wellingtonian political cartoonist and filmmaker, which may not be
seen outside New Zealand, as licensing the Everest Expedition
footage is too expensive. I've seen it and read the accompanying
autobiography. There is talk of a feature film — but who could play
the hero? Daniel Day Lewis or Rupert Everett look alarmingly right
and Kenneth Branagh would be a convincing John Hunt, the
expedition's leader. |
Hillary after his descent from the summit of Everest
(UPI/Bettman)
Academy of Achievement
|
Tenzing Norgay on the summit of Everest
29 May 1953
(UPI/Bettman)
Academy of Achievement
|
At Tom and Averil Scott's home amongst the trees
of the capital's greenbelt, I waited like a fan for my first glimpse
of Hillary. It is nearly 50 years since the headlines and that
photograph of the lone conqueror on the summit. At the time we speculated whether it was Tenzing or
Hillary in his oxygen mask, the union flag of the United Kingdom
fluttering from the raised ice-pick. It was Tenzing. Hillary never
thought to have his own snap. Instead he had a pee. "Well,
we've knocked the bugger off" were his returning words to his
colleagues on the south col. His smile is still wide, reminding me
of my father, a keen rock-climber. Sir Edmund still responds to
queries about Everest with enthusiasm. I stick to the fells but I am in
awe of mountaineers, wanderers and explorers. |
| It is not surprising that Hillary should be
from New Zealand, where the land is a challenge and an inspiration.
These last months I have driven across it, flown over it, boated and
tramped. For the first time, I wish my father had taught me to
climb. It is in many places a wilderness, not rivalling the
Himalayas but perfect for the Fellowship's journeyings. After all,
not even Frodo and Sam could make it up Everest unaided. |
Tea time for a tramping party near Arthur's Pass
Photo by Keith Stern
|
Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Frodo (Elijah Wood) lead the Fellowship
through the mountains
|
|
