Diary
On this page, the Pioneers who traveled to Tunisia to Save the Lars Homestead, share with you their very own adventure.
Re-live the excitement of pulling off a restoration that has been one of the most anticipated projects in a galaxy far, far away.
Your guides are: Mark Dermul, Terry Cooper, Mark Cox, Robert Cunningham, Imanuel Dijk and Michel Verpoorten (more on our crew on this page). Oh, and lets not forget our 'caterer', Colin Kenworthy. After all, he supplied us with cool drinks and icecreams when we most needed them.
Day 6
Wednesday 30th May 2012
After a breakfast
that consisted solely of a coffee (the Résidence Warda,
where we were staying, did not serve breakfast until
6.30am), the Saviours headed back out to Nefta. While some
continued work on the base of the igloo, attaching plywood
and chicken wire, Terry installed his entry coder, which was
an exact replica from the one seen in A New Hope. It looks
absolutely stunning. He had cast his gizmo in a synthetic
material and painted it a matte black, to make the red and
white buttons stand out. It was then covered in a protective
plastic sleeve. Imanuel, in the meantime, oversaw the
restoration of the base around the steps leading into the
homestead, using the original pieces. For the final step
into the igloo, they had Abdellatif create special cement.
Into it, they deposited a mix of sand from all the Star Wars
filming locations in
Mark Cox and Robert
dusted off the igloo in preparation of the first layer of
cement. They gave it a try, but Ali, one of the local
builders, shook his head and took over. They know that stuff
so much better than the Saviours did. With precision and
skill, Ali, Kasem and Abdellatif mixed the cement and
applied the protective layer around the base of the
homestead. It did not take long for it to dry, with the
temperatures slowly but surely climbing back into the low
thirties (Celsius, that is!).
That freed up the
Saviours to start digging the hole in which the
commemorative plaque would be installed. We needed to dig a
hole deep enough to anchor the plaque in place, since these
salt flats are often buffeted by the desert winds.
Around 11am, the
cement was dry and the layer of plaster could be applied. Or
so they thought. But the mix dried faster in the wheelbarrow
than it could be applied. With 43°C (that’s 110°F) they had
no other option than to call it a day, sooner than they
wanted to.
Back in Tozeur,
after a refreshing shower and a good lunch, it was back to
the internet café to upload another bunch of photos and
videos (and smoke a Hookah, the local version of the
waterpipe). After all, the world was watching and the
Saviours wanted the fans to be able to follow every step of
the way. Their encouragement on the social media brought a
smile to the Saviours’ faces and kept them even more
motivated than they already were.
Return to Day 5 - Forward to Day 7
Crew & Saviours
Find out who who donated to make this restoration possible and meet the crew who traveled out to Tunisia to make it happen.
Book
We are currently hard at work creating a wonderful coffee table book, with loads of never before seen images. Stay tuned!