Edifices, dinosaurs and tomato sauce

Press, 22 April 1980, Page 15

Edifices, dinosaurs and tomato sauce

By

KEN STRONGMAN

POINTSOF VIEWING

'/Any visitor to New ZeaIsjhd ■ — or, why not go the whole hog and say any inhabitant — should be obliged to watch TVI from 7 to 8 on a Sunday evening, sometimes at least. “Yours for the Asking” followed by "Country Calendar” extract the essence of New Zealand with a simple elegance and with unfailing good humour. Much of this week’s “Yours for the Asking” depended on a guided tour of unusual buildings con-

ducted by Peter Hawes, himself becoming some, thing of an eccentric edifice.

-To see Rotorua’s Tudor Towers and Christchurch’s Catholic Cathedral (or Basilica)' made one think tfeat New Zealand is beginning to have some rather stylish and impress sive history. -However, the basic contrasts which characterise New Zealand were evident At the turn of the century men were capable of building a delightful mock Tudor house to compjte with Bavarian spas, and were concerned to procure Royal Doulton rijud baths for it. -Yet, within it they also placed an electric bath to which a person could be strapped and a vertical douche rather than a shower. -After these kinky and Masochistic horrors, one finished up in a horrible muddy pool somewhere dpt the back; Bavaria indeed. “ And the Catholic Cathedral, a beautiful building

helped along by no less than the passing of an act of parliament by Richard John Seddon. A tremendous achievement, but with the gas works next door. Apart from a few odds and ends, the rest of “Yours for the Asking” was taken up with the discovery of one dinosaur vertebra not far from Napier. In the time-honoured way, the discovery was made by an amateur paleontologist — an unusual hobby. This really gives

New Zealand a history of some millions of years.

Whenever there is a discussion of how the paleontologists can build an exact model of animal which lived in prehistory from the evidence of one small bone, I begin to wonder if I am caught up in a spoof.

Think about it. It seems to me like finding a page from a book and using it to reconstruct the whole novel.

But Peter Hawes gave a very good potted history of dinosaur development, although he reached his high spot when he likened our one dinosaur to Colin Meads. Also, why at one point in the programme was he walking along the sea shore apparently on a lead attached to his leg? I suppose it was the microphone, but down his .trousers. One kept expecting something bizarre or even shocking to happen. . From 7.45 to 8 is “Country Calendar,” always well filmed and showing how very good

programmes made in New Zealand can be. This week it was tomatoes, millions of them, harvested from the mud in Gisborne, mainly by a sort of combine harvester. It is an enormous machine, something like a trundling factory, and it works 24 hours a day for two months to bring you your tomato sauce. To me, what is special about “Country Calendar” is that it shows the complexity of New Zealand, the primary production which is in the hands of very competent people,Again, though, there are the contrasts which seem so much a part of the New Zealand way of life. The impressive tomato harvester, but with people on it sorting the red from the green. The hand-pick-ers, working in a position which would give me back-ache, leg-ache and neck-ache within fifteen minutes, and apparently content. In a way the details of these two programmes, however fascinating they might be, do not matter.They should be watched because they epitomise New Zealand. To steal an idea from a good friend of mine, they could be used as a screen* ing test for potential immigrants. Anyone who did not like, could not understand or in any other way failed to rise to them, shouldn’t be allowed in. He wouldn’t be happy.