Exploring Geraldine

Kia Ora!

A short 20-minute drive from Timaru is the town of  Geraldine. Consulting the newspaper, we decided to see Life of Pi  at the Geraldine Theatre. We were about to find out that the Geraldine Theatre falls into the category of local color.

The theatre has a prominent location as one enters the central business district, next to the library and close to shops. The appearance bespeaks of another and perhaps better era. With only one screen, the theatre does not open until it is time to show the movie. So off we went to explore what else Geraldine had to offer.

We walked into a small arcade designed to entice the business of tourists heading for the high country. We bought ice cream to eat and cheese to take home from the cheese shop.

Next door was a shop specializing in delicious jams and preserves. We bought some of that.

Finally the theatre opened for business. A musty smell greeted us as we entered and purchased our tickets. The bare counter with a few sweets offered for sale could hardly be called a box office.

"You can sit upstairs or downstairs," said the ticket taker/projectionist/owner. "Just grab a rug and take the seat or sofa of your choice."

A rug? Sofas? We peered in at the cold, cavernous and empty downstairs
auditorium. Indeed, red blankets were piled to one side of the door and the back seats were a row of sofas. The heaters in the theatre are so noisy, one could not hear the sound if they ran during the projection. Hence, the blankets. We
headed upstairs to the balcony on the theory that hot air rises and we wanted to be warm. We grabbed our blankets from the pile by the door, chose our sofa, cuddled together, and the couple next to us became our best friends for the next two hours. The movie was just fine also.

Cheers,

Kiwi Traveler