Remarkable re-creation

Press, 9 December 1983, Page 8

Remarkable re-creation

ate atmosphere — even to the mossy aroma. There are ferns, mosses, logs and nine different kinds of pongas, or tree ferns. Lake Brunner is glimpsed through a “natural” cave in one bush area, which has'a waterfall, and in another, South Westland’s Lake Paringa is seen beyond a frame of ponga trunks. Automatic Epin ensures adequate humidity to allow the bush to flourish, and native bird song enhances the realism.

The theatrette, which can seat 40 people, is lined on one side with logs of rimu (red pine) and on the other with logs of pinus radiata,

The rocks at the front of the cinema, and in the recreated landscapes, come from many parts of the South Island. The Bm-wide screen is “double cinemascope” — the natural range of the human eye.

The composite, 24-minute film presentation gives an impression of the South Island, particularly Canterbury, from pre-European days through to the present. It is all cine film, some of it with duplicates in the national archives, and it includes the arrival of the first European settlers, as portrayed in a 1950 centennial re-enactment.

Then there are the early days of European settlement, with stage coaches and gold rushes, and scenes

of early Christchurch, with carts, hansom cabs, old bicycles and trams.

The colour era comes in with the steam trains and with the steam traction engines that were used for harvesting on Canterbury farms.

Flying to and walking on the glaciers provides another spectacular sequence, followed by skiers at Coronet Peak, jet-boating and a helicopter ride that brushes the tussocks and swoops out over gorges and down river beds.

The film show uses an eight-projection system and 21 speakers for surround sound, and it packs in far more than can be mentioned here.

The charge is $1 per person to the general public, and 40 cents each for young people in a school party. The receptionist is to run a free introductory service, with the aid of a computer to store names, telephone numbers and interests. This will offer tourists the chance to meet local people who would welcome them as guests. The idea of the lounge; and its design, came from Mr Morris Jackson, a film enthusiast whose life-time business, for 37 years so far, has been the supply of films and the supply and servicing of audio-visual equipment.

The whole set-up has taken three years to build.

Mr Jackson has been joined in the travel lounge venture by Mr Bob Kaan, who has worked with him on audio-visual shows for 25 years.

Mr Kaan has been appointed as a tour consultant, to help tourists make the best use of their time in the South Island.

The lounge is available for hire for Christmas parties and seminars, and businesses can use it for staff training sessions and social club evenings, for example.