Reporting Diary

Press, 24 December 1980, Page 2

Reporting Diary

Colden opportunity.. EVER; wanted . to own your own ski-field? Well, .you have,just missed your, golden * opportunity. For , the last two months, the Tekapo Ski-field and adjoining Richmond >tation have- been," on. the market; with- an asking price of ’54.5 million for the .lot, which would have made a lovely. .'Christmas present for ■ the person) who has everything. But last week, .the owner, Mr. Karl Burtsbher, took the properties off the market The sole agent for them ;was Wrightsbn Real Estate, which produced a glossy colour folder, depicting attractive views of the ski- - field and nearby Lake Tekapo, with an accompanying 15-page booklet describing the ski-field, the ; sheep station, and the improvements. It is underst >od that - Mr Burtscher received one or two offers for the properties, but that the amount offered was insufficient. Mr Bur-

tscher is at present in the United States and is unavailable 'for comment.

.. . passed over TEKAPO Ski-field now ranks as one of the best family ski-fields in New Zealand, with slopes suitable for novice skiers and spectacular views of the lake and the surrounding Southern Alps, including Mount Cook. Since Mr Burtscher bought the leasehold to the ski-field some years ago, he has developed it from a modest hobby and club field with rope tows and basic facilities to a fully commercial, seven-day, Winter scheme with a chairlift, platter lift and new buildings. Richmond station, offered for sale ‘ with - the ski-field,, since;the two are intertwined in management, is divided into two properties, tone, freehold and the other leasehold. The freehold property consists of 16 hectares, near the foot of the ski-field road, and contains the

f o ur-y e;a r-old architecturally/ designed, six double-bedroom, . two-stor-ey homestead, with its own ■. heated swimming pool, on the edge of Lake Tekapo. Also bn the freehold property is a Lockwood dwelling, and; bunkhouse for staff accommodation. The leasehold part of Richmond station consists of 9404 hectares of low and high country, with a deer park, and a farm manager’s residence. The station grazes 5000 sheep, 88 deer and 50 cattle. Illegal reindeer? SANTA Claus in Cave Junction, Oregon, was given a ticket for illegal possession of deer this week. Mr Bruce Ptolemy, the owner of a wildlife park, was in full Father Christmas garb when an Oregon State patrolman gave him a ticket for not holding a permit for three blacktail deer, which are part. of the Christmas display at the Deer Park. “I doubt, if the children standing round me will ever forget the time, they saw Santa Claus getting a ticket,”-Mr Ptolemy said.

Animated wall THE LONG stretch of concrete retaining wall between the Ayon River and Fitzgerald Avenue may have another mural painted on it, this time officially. Earlier this year an anonymous artist at- ' tacked the wall with /bright red, blue, and yellow paint and created a mural, depicting boats on rippling water. But now, some of the Avon Loop residents have come up with the idea of having an officially-approved mural painted there, using students working for the Student Community Service Programme over the holidays. The mural, which will be visible mainly from across the river m Oxford Terrace, will be divided into 45 frames, and each frame will show two dogs playing with a ball. To a person driving, cycling, running, or even walking past, ’ the entire mural will resemble a film animation sequence.

Christmas paper ONE young Merivale resident found a new way to bring zest to a modest present in' Christmas week. Sent off to the

Merivale Mall one morning recently for a copy of “The Press,” he returned home proudly and proffered the newspaper wrapped in colourful Christmas paper to his mother. He had taken advantage of the mall s offer to gift-wrap purchases made there, and the mall had cheerfully obliged by wrapping up a rather uncommon present.

Humbug! CHRISTMAS carol concerts are boring singsongs, according to the vicar of St Paul’s Church in Warwick, England. “There is nothing Christian in singing about the holly and the ivy and three ships going sailing by,” he wrote in his parish magazine’s Christmas issue. “I cannot sanction carol concerts under the guise of religious occasions. People do them for entertainment.” He said that the religious celebration of the birth of Jesus should be separated from the accompanying bout of eating, drinking, and being merry.