Wellywood: A bad sign

EDITORIAL OPINION
Wellywood? What a bunch of wallies!
So a group of capital clowns think the way to impress overseas tourists is to piggyback on the Hollywood sign with a tacky cover version of our own. If the best idea our Wellington neighbours can come up with to impress overseas tourists is a Wellywood sign, then the whole New Zealand tourism industry is in big trouble.
And frankly, the last thing we need as people motor through the suburb of Wellington on the way to Wairarapa is some tacky sign reminding the whole world how lacking in originality we are.
Frankly we could exploit Hollywood in a far more tacky way this side of the Tararuas than Wellington could ever hope to, if we had a mind to.
For a start we could flick a few coachloads a day up Matahiwi Rd past Sir Peter's private mansion (our version of a Hollywood tour), or zip them past the guards to Sir Peter's vintage warplane collection.
We could casually send the same buses cruising past Vincent Ward's Greytown retreat for good measure.
And then, of course, there's the infamous sign at the northern end of the district.
The Wellywood-come-latelies probably haven't been that far north, but had they realised there was a world past Miramar they would know that there's been a Tuiwood sign just near that well-known brewery for some time now.
But rather than deal in tackiness, we have some genuine crown jewels in this region that would impress overseas visitors far more than a rip-off Hollywood sign.
Just this week Wairarapa made world headlines when Manukura, the rare white kiwi, was revealed to the world.
He will undoubtedly become a major attraction at Pukaha Mt Bruce. We have world-class outdoor activities, fantastic beaches, outstanding wines, magnificent towns. Wellington's airport officials could do a heck of a lot worse than flick us their marketing budget - we'll show them how to do it with a bit of class.