Reporter’s diary

Press, 3 November 1984, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

One woman's view A CHRISTCHURCH man oi modest means was approached at the Kaikoura races the other day by an acquaintance of his family, a North Canterbury fanning dowager with that singsong, pseudo-English accent affected by some New Zealanders who aspire to the English aristocracy. “How lovely to see you,” she trilled. "How’s that little business of yours going?” Our man related a sorry tale of falling turnover at his small lunch-time food bar, and said he was awaiting the Budget with some trepidation. “Oh yes,” said the farming wife. “It’s these people in power now. They’re always talking about helping the poor people, when it’s us who make the country’s money.” She thought for a moment, then added: “Anyway, poor people only have small

families these days, don’t they?” Many hands . . . JOE DAVIES, a long-time Hart leader in Christchurch, has relinquished his chairman’s portfolio to a mixed bag of dedicated anti-raci-sim fighters. Calls of “vive Joe” were heard at Hart’s recent annual meeting, after the announcement that Mr Davies was to step down. The position previously held by him is now shared by about 12 persons. “The position of chairman was totally voluntary,’ and there was just too much work for one person,” said a Hart spokesperson, Ms Joy Ritchie. Mr Davies is still among the 12, however. Steam scene THE CANTERBURY Steam Preservation Society will hold an open week-end at McLeans Island today and

tomorrow. The idea is to allow the public to see traction engines, and perhaps to ride on them, at no cost. The society will also have its 1925 vintage steam train running. New event YOU MAY have heard of the Iron Man competition. Now we have the Lake Victoria “anathlon” for the “Rusty Man and Rusty Girl, 1984,” run by the Canterbury Paraplegic Association, the Disabled Persons Centre, and the RyderCheshire Foundation. The "Rusty Man and Rusty Girl” competition, a race across land and water, no training required — according to the president of the Canterbury Paraplegic Association, Dr W. R. Morris — will be held at 1.30 p.m. on Sunday, November 18. There will be sideshows and entertainment for spectators and

competitors of all ages, with canoes supplied by the Antigua Boatsheds. Wouldbe competitors should assemble in Hagley Park near the Armagh Street bridge. Any proceeds will go towards helping the disabled. Hedging bets? THE NEW South Wales Bureau of Meteorology covered just about every contingency in a recent rain forecast bulletin issued to newspapers: “Light to moderate, to occasionally heavy, isolated, to scattered, to widespread rainfall in the southern half of the State .. Basic qualifications THINGS MIGHT be worse in the Gulf States than we thought. A Bahrain company. advertising .for air hostesses in the Tunisian

daily newspaper, “Action,” stipulates that applicants must be proficient swimmers. Queenstown water THE CONTAMINATION by raw sewage of the water supply in New Zealand’s leading tourist resort of Queenstown, with hundreds of people getting gastroenteritis as a result, may have cost us some Australian tourist revenue. One kind Aussie, in urging his countrymen to attend a conference in New Zealand, recently remarked that apart from our country’s currency being almost as low in value as Italy’s, we were “about the only Third World country where you can drink the water.” Looking on the bright side, it might bode well for the bottle water industry. J-Peter Comer