Rave reviews for costumes

Bathurst friends Nina Oyama and Angus Thompson dressed themselves as Elliot and E.T., from the 1982 science fiction film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, to win a costume contest at the Elephant and Castle Hotel – which they did.

A day later, the photos they took to remember the occasion were on websites Reddit and Buzzfeed.

“[The attention] was super surprising,” Ms Oyama said.

“It was all done for free beers and then my mum put [the photos] up on Reddit and the next day Buzzfeed contacted us.”

What made their costumes standout was Mr Thompson’s wheelchair.

Mr Thompson has cerebral palsy and moved to Bathurst when he was eight years old.

Not one to let his disability stop him, he attended school at Bathurst West Public School and St Stanislaus College, before going on to study at Charles Sturt University.

Like other young adults, Mr Thompson enjoys experiencing Bathurst’s nightlife with his friends.

“He doesn’t let anything get in his way, except stairs,” Ms Oyama said.

She became friends with Mr Thompson about three years ago and often acts as his carer.

While they’ve exchanged clothes and gone into town together, this year was the first time the pair have dressed up for Halloween.

Ms Oyama said they took a lot of care in selecting their costumes.

“We just wanted to use Angus’ wheelchair and we just wanted to win the costume contest at the Elephant and Castle,” she said.

There was a little bit of competition for them to face, including someone who dressed as something from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but in the end Mr Thompson and Ms Oyama won the $100 prize.

It has already been spent on pizza and beer.

Ms Oyama said they’re now enjoying watching their photos gain popularity.

The original post on the Buzzfeed Australia Facebook page has been shared 44 times, received more than 40 comments and has clocked up more than 1,100 likes.

“We honeslty just kinda want to get lots of Facebook likes and we’ve been getting more likes and laughing about it,” Ms Oyama said.

She added that people may start seeing herself and Mr Thompson dress up more after all the attention.