By dint of its location, New Zealand was able to hold the first official event for the celebration of 100 days to go until the London Olympics. Put on by the British High Commission, the street party was attended by SirIan McKellen and some of the other stars of The Hobbit, currently being filmed in New Zealand.
Winter showed its claws for the first time today and the Polynesian entertainers, in their traditional warm-weather outfits, looked decidedly out of place. Not that you could tell from their island smiles and happy music. The first event at the first event was a foot race from parliament grounds up to the High Commission, which sits a tad imperiously overlooking the New Zealand parliament. Kids, diplomats and politicians took part in the race, which was ceremoniously started by Sir John Walker, the Kiwi gold medalist in the 1,500 event in Montreal. Kids won. There was food from various countries and lots of music. Much of the news reports out of London seem to indicate that arrangements for the 2012 Olympics are coming along splendidly and that the facilities are on time and quite grand. Poor London has a hell of an act to follow after the magnificent games of Beijing. I remember good old Boris Johnson, the disheveled mayor of London, accepting the handover at the end of the 2008 games and thinking, "Oh dear, the Brits are being set up for failure here." His very hair seemed an admission of defeat. But it sounds like the East End of London is getting all gussied up and the people are getting excited and that the Brits, by God, might just pull it off. One hundred days to go until we see.Source: Life in the Land of the Long White Cloud
