The adventures of Coojee and Nessie

Press, 26 July 1983, Page 18

The adventures of Coojee and Nessie

Can you imagine what would happen if a koala bear made friends with a monster from a deep Scottish lake? When this unlikely friendship is formed in “Coojeebear and the Monster” — a musical production to be performed at the Christchurch Town Hall on Friday — the two creatures have a series of strange adventures. Coojeebear the koala, is an old friend of the bearded Australian entertainer, Rolf Harris, who came to Christchurch last week after appearing on “Telethon” in Auckland. In between singing, painting pictures, telling jokes and making paint commercials for television, Rolf has

found time to record some of Coojeebear’s adventures. With the help of slides, songs, and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Rolf will tell the story of how Coojeebear went to Scotland and met Nessie, a monster who lives deep under the waters of Loch Ness.

With music by Barry Booth, lyrics by Robert Gray and pictures painted by Rolf, the show has already been performed to children in Britain, the United States and Canada. The three creators plan to turn their story into a fulllength film. Many people do not believe that the legendary monster of Loch Ness exists, and only a few people say they have seen her rear her head above the lake. But Coojeebear found her, and the two of them set off for London to defend the caose of animal rights. But somewhere between Scotland and London the pair become side-tracked, and find themselves in London where they meet Sean the Leprechaun. From there they travel to Wales and encounter a real Welsh witch called Blcdwyn. Unexpectedly, they also meet Nessie’s cousin Dylan, who lives in a lake and recites poetry.

Whes they finally arrive in Lonclon, Nessie’s appearance causes total panic. For

a moment it looks as though their trip has been for nothing — but a special lady steps in just at the right time . . . Fortunately for Coojeebear and Nessie, the story has a happy ending.