We are a couple of Brits and have just a fantastic two week holiday in NZ.
On the 31st of January we drove from Queenstown to Invercargill on what is known as the Southern Scenic Route. We shouldn't have bothered - it rained all day and the winds were high. We arrived in Invercargill and checked into our hotel and thought 'why on earth have we come here?'.
We checked out the cinema opposite the hotel and the next day they were showing Lion at 3.15pm. We really wanted to see this.
The next morning was much brighter and we went to the hardware store (no. 1 on Tripadvisor) and to the Botanic Gardens (magnificent). We made our way back to the cinema at 3.15. I said two tickets for Lion please. The lady said, it's not on. I said it's still showing as being on on the schedule on the counter. She said, it's been cancelled - we've cleared the schedules for the premiere of Pork Pie this evening.
We were a bit hacked off by this and we'd never heard of Pork Pie. So we went back to our room and watched the trailer and we decided to see if tickets were available. We had to go to the City Hall for them, but we got two. So we turned up for the red carpet event - rarely seen in Invercargill. It was a great occasion. There were minis everywhere. People had driven from the north of north island all the way to this southern tip of the south island. The stars of the film made brief speeches. And then we settled down to watch it.
We loved it. It's a lot of fun with great humour all the way through. It deserves to do well. My only regret is it's not due for release in the UK - I think it would go down well here. I want to see it again.
We'll always remember it and the city. We took our bl***y hire car to Invercargill!
On the 31st of January we drove from Queenstown to Invercargill on what is known as the Southern Scenic Route. We shouldn't have bothered - it rained all day and the winds were high. We arrived in Invercargill and checked into our hotel and thought 'why on earth have we come here?'.
We checked out the cinema opposite the hotel and the next day they were showing Lion at 3.15pm. We really wanted to see this.
The next morning was much brighter and we went to the hardware store (no. 1 on Tripadvisor) and to the Botanic Gardens (magnificent). We made our way back to the cinema at 3.15. I said two tickets for Lion please. The lady said, it's not on. I said it's still showing as being on on the schedule on the counter. She said, it's been cancelled - we've cleared the schedules for the premiere of Pork Pie this evening.
We were a bit hacked off by this and we'd never heard of Pork Pie. So we went back to our room and watched the trailer and we decided to see if tickets were available. We had to go to the City Hall for them, but we got two. So we turned up for the red carpet event - rarely seen in Invercargill. It was a great occasion. There were minis everywhere. People had driven from the north of north island all the way to this southern tip of the south island. The stars of the film made brief speeches. And then we settled down to watch it.
We loved it. It's a lot of fun with great humour all the way through. It deserves to do well. My only regret is it's not due for release in the UK - I think it would go down well here. I want to see it again.
We'll always remember it and the city. We took our bl***y hire car to Invercargill!