Reporter’s diary

Press, 4 October 1982, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Exit Rupert BRYNDWR is no longer being captivated by Rupert the rabbit. Rupert, a feral rabbit, had spent about nine months in Bryndwr gardens, munching away at such as Lupins, dianthus, polyanthus, wallflower seedlings, and young shoots on rose buds. He was very tame. He sat on front lawns, and houseowners could approach him to whispering distance. But Rupert made a fatal error. He attacked someone’s carrots. not once but twice.. Rupert has not been seen since the second foray. The method of his demise is not known. But anyone in the district named McGregor is being looked at suspiciously. Roke’s progress THE MEMBERS of the Canterbury Caledonian Ladies Pipe Band looked very smart in their uniforms, but their manager. Mr Peter Keller, may think of them most fondly as they looked in their bathing costumes — but not for the usual reason. The band recently returned from, attending the 117th Highland

games in Santa Rosa and spent four days at Honolulu on the way back. While swimming, Mr Keller lost his upper dentures. So he bought a rake for $6 and had a team of helpers in the water by 7 a.m. next day. The group attracted considerable attention. even al that earlv hour. But a systematic search, with people taking turns on the rake, brought success within half an hour. Able to talk properly again; Mr Keller decided to auction his rake, and received a dollar (U.S.) for it. at a gathering of his band and its supjioriers. However the purchaser had second thoughts about taking it back to New Zealand, and gave it to a member of the band. She had second thoughts too. According to Mr Keller, it is probably still under the bed in a room on the seventeenth floor of the Pacific Beach Hotel. Feast THE MICROWAVE oven is a marvellous invention. But don't say that to a well known Christchurch disc jockey. He invested in one. and asked friends round to enjoy his first cooking it it. a Mexican chicken dish. He

kept looking every frew minutes at the dish in the oven, but finding there was no browning of the food, left it a little longer. Finally he gave it "another 20 minutes." A Mexican chicken dish does not look its best when it consists only of bones. Peace festival PREPARATIONS are well tinder way for the Pacific Peace Festival to be held at Auckland’s Western Springs Stadium on December 12. Greenpeace New Zealand, the organiser, hopes to attract hundreds of musicians and cultural groups from all over the Pacific, and from other parts of the world. Tickets for the event, which will be issued to people making a donation of more than $18.50 to Greenpeace, are expected to be taken up some weeks before the festival. There are only 25.000 tickets, and there will be no gate sales. The organiser also . hopes to raise funds through the sale of “peace bonds." which will cost $5. and. will be refundable after January 1. ' 1983. at $5.50. Funds raised will be used to pay for the event, and profits will be used to further

i Greenpeace work throughout ; the Pacific. Table talk ' A BATTLE of wills is ranging round the North Canter- ; bury Catchment Board table. After long debate the board decided last month to have its new design table, costing $2994. built with a rimu veneer finish. But last week , some board members launched a bid for a solid : timber table, possibly using ■timber from a board plantation. Their attempt to let the ’ final order decision "lie on the table” for another month was deadlocked until a board member returned from a quick break. The veneer supporters won, 6-5. Hopeful THERE are seven pages of remits on law and order for the forthcoming Conservative Party conference in England. One from Norwood goes this way: "This conference calls upon the Government to recreate the conditions in which a virgin leading a child and carrying a bag of gold could pass on foot from one end of the Kingdom to another without fear.”