Reporter’s diary

Press, 9 December 1981, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Secret love A MYSTERIOUS Japanese honeymoon: couple breezec through Christchurch recently. Their marriage was blessed at St Barnabas, Fendalton, last Friday, and thej then spent their honeymoor days at Akaroa. On their way from Akaroa to Christchurch International Airport yesterday, they stopped briefly at a city hotel to collect additional baggage and were asked for an interview by “The Press.” The interview was - refused however, because, according to ar. escort, the marriage was a secret unfit the week-end. He refused to say why, and sc did the bride. The couple were trailed during their trip by a Japanese camera crew who were making a primetime Japanese television programme featuring the couple. One rumour has it that either the bride or the bridegroom is a secretary to Kakuei Tanaka of., the Lockheed bribe scandal. One local-tour firm'said that the couple had booked with them for all arrangements but cancelled when they were told a horse-drawn carriage could not be produced to take them to St Barnabas. They swapped companies,but went in a limousine in the. end.

Poor show THE GOVERNOR-GEN-ERAL (Sir David Beattie), his wife and equerry could have a good cause to believe that Nelson was closed for the week-end when they arrived at Nelson Airport on Sunday morning. Sir Davfd, on his first visit to Nelson as governor-general, found no airport manager, no civic officials and no senior police to meet him. Only a traffic officer was sent-to escort the official car to the city. Fortunately, the warmth of the weather and of the people, whom Sir David met when he opened the Salvation Army’s 52 million Omiao Village complex,- made up for the coolness of the airport reception. Feathered funeral THE SCENE could have come straight out of an urban version of “Beak of the Moon.” A reader was driving down West Melton Road on Friday morning when he spotted eight blackbirds sitting in a ring in the middle of the road. As he came closer, the man saw a dead blackbird in the middle of the circle. All the blackbirds remained like statues, heads bowed, and never heeded the car which had to make a

detour around them. The reader is convinced the birds were holding a funeral service for their mate, struck down in the prime of life by the roaring beast with chrome teeth. Fallout THE ARAMOANA smelter is blamed for many predicted catastrophes — environmental and personal. A group called Feminists for the Environment has issued a declaration to focus, “attention on the connections between the treatment of women and the treatment of the natural environment.” The group believes “that the Think Big strategy will lead to a barefoot and pregnant future for New Zealand women;” Is it something in the air, or what? A birdie? A CUST tennis player brought down more than her opponent in a game recently. Playing in a North Canterbury senior reserve match against Southbrook, the girl felled a sparrow with her forehand drive. The bird did not recover.

Red book THE NATURE Conservation Council has published “The Red Data Book of New Zealand” on . rare and endangered species of endemic terrestrial vertebrates and vascular plants, or something (brief pause here as we all ’ rush for the Concise Oxford). The book categorises all the species — endangered, vulnerable, rare. The first category is “extinct” — how rare and endangered can you get? This category is used for species no longer known to exist in the wild after repeated searches and can include species extinct in the wild but surviving in “cultivation.” Another category is “indeterminate” where a species is known to be of one of the other four categories but not enough information is available to say which specific category. “This category is used for species reported as ‘extinct’ ‘possibly extinct’ or -‘probably extinct’ on the assumption that they are • either ‘extinct,’ or ‘endangered’.” explains the book, (sigh). The Red Book . (not nearly as much fun as the school book of-similar name) was published. to coincide ,with the I.U.C.N. conference in Christchurch during Octo-, ber..