A visitor from Middle Earth

I think everyone who flies in or out of Wellington airport photographs this  sculpture of Gandalf riding one of the two Great eagles suspended from the ceiling.  Constructed by Weta Workshop this evocative scene from the Hobbit weighs just under  2 tonnes and has a wingspan of 15 metres.  Weta molded and cast 1000 feathers for the eagles and the longest feather is 2.4 metres.

Two years ago, a 6.3 earthquake hit the lower North Island and  one of  the eagles crashed to the ground - fortunately no one was injured.