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- - - - - This is the story of my trip to Hope in February 2006 - - - -
Rambo Days
In February 2006 I received an e-mail from Damon, a TV Producer from Seattle, Washington who was planning to shoot the pilot of a new TV series
in Hope BC. His company - Gaslight Alley Entertainment - has already been to Hope in October 2005. They were re-acting scenes from First Blood
and now they wanted to return there to go on with the filming. Damon asked me if I was interested in taking part in that filming. He was fascinated
by my knowledge of all the filming locations and he also liked my website. Of course I wanted to cross the Atlantic Ocean again, but I really
couldn't afford it...but I said to myself: "Man, this is THE chance to work with a filming crew!!" and hence I took some of the money that I've
saved during the last years and booked the trip...
 After a horrendous flight with British Airways (Air-conditioning failed, doors didn't
open, 4 hours delays) I finally arrived in Vancouver. But it was very late by now and Damon couldn't pick me up at the Airport. So I called
a limousine service driver and he took me to Chilliwack. I was sitting in a cafeteria and 30 minutes later I finally met the guy whom I only
knew via e-mail and phone calls...He was accompanied by Brian from "Hells Gate Airtram" , who was spending his whole life in Hope BC, who was on the scene of the Rambo
filming in 1981 and by the way who's also a very engaged and nice person. Together, us three Rambo fanatics made our way to Hope BC..
It was too late by now to check in my motel, so we decided to get me to the place where all the filming crew members were staying. I got my own
cabin at the "Kw'o:kw'e:hala Eco Retreat" and was still too excited to get
some hours of sleep. Though I haven't slept for 30 hours I decided to have a drink with Mike, who was the photographer
of the crew..Everything was so unreal - 35 hours before I was sitting in my room with a boring view on grey streets and now I was sitting
in the middle of the Canadian Wilderness...
The First Day in Hope
"GOOD MORNING OLIVER, IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP!!!" - My eyes were barely open when I felt a wet tongue on my face. It was a huge black dog!!!
The morning sun and the bright snow were hurting my eyes and an icy cold breath came into my cabin. "Oh my god, where am I here? I want to go back
to Germany"..those were my first impressions of the early day in Hope, BC.
BUT the story goes on...I went into the house of Sue and Henry,
who were the owners of the Eco Retreat. Their friendliness and care for my person were incredible. The extensive breakfast quickly
changed my tireness into power! So i was ready for the filming...I also met Inge again. She was also giving adivises to the filming crew and we
had a great time together.
Some pictures from the filming
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At the Sheriffs Office |
Me and Mike, the Photographer |
On the Streets of Hope |
Filming Crew at Othello Tunnels |
The Second Day in Hope
After the filming day the happenings on this day were almost even more exciting. Brian McKinney who is the guy running the "Hellsgate Airtram"
introduced me to some of the "Hope Royalties". He picked me up at Inge's house and then we got to the Hope District Hall. Brian wanted me to get to know
Hope Mayor Wilfried Vicktor. So we met up at the Blue Moose Café. The Mayor was excited to hear my
suggestions concerning the possible boost of Hope's economy if the town only promotes it's movie jewel.
I also met the "President" ;-) ...Mr. Victor Smith
is responsible for Hope's Chamber of Commerce and we also had a little chat about Rambo and it's influence on tourism in Hope. He gave me an " Experience Hope"
pullover as a gift and I was proudly wearing it!! The next station for me was the office of Hope newspaper
"The Hope Standard" .Brian didn't make a breath ;-)
I was telling the lady of the newspaper the whole story. She even had problems to write down all my notes as my flood of words was a little to fast...
This fascinating day ended with my favorite meal: Lasagne...Sue was just asking what dish I like most and voilá - she cooked it for me. We watched the movie
"First Blood" and as a return service I was explaining where certain scenes were shot and why. At 1 a.m. tired as I was I went to bed.
MORE TO COME!!
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