Reporter’s diary

Press, 6 November 1984, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

To the rescue DUCKLINGS separated from their mother in Sumner recently Were saved by a boy, aged 12, who made sure they would get a start in life' even if the mother could never be traced. Nine ducklings were confused by passing joggers in Wakefield Avenue, and they fled into a large drain. They could not get out of the drain, so the boy stretched as far as he could reach and picked them up one by one. He was not able to find the mother, so he took the ducklings home and put them in a garden pen. He provided a hot water bottle so they would have a warm place to sit, and the shut the family cat inside the house. Those arrangements did the trick until a wildlife ranger could take them away to a wildlife reserve’s incubator in the country. The ponds DR GRAHAM Riley reminds us _ that the Bromley sewage oxidation ponds,

which are also a wildlife refuge admired by tourists and a scenic backdrop for those who live some distance from them, have been given an official name by the Geographic Board to signify their use by wildlife. The name .Te Huingi Manu means the place of the gathering of the birds. It was suggested by local Maoris. Other Maoris were consulted by the Geographic Board before the suggestion was accepted and the name gazetted. Disguise ONE CAKE for sale at an Auckland area Returned Services Association fundraising event recently was so lovely that it was bought quickly and taken home, where it was not expected to last for long. Cakes in the sale had been made by male R.S.A. members, and the one purchased seemed to be a model for anyone trying to learn how to follow a recipe. It was a sponge cake decorated with chocolate icing and walnut halves.. But the first cut the

cook’s limitations, or his sense of homour. Beneath the icing was a sponge-like substance of a non-edible variety — a block of foam rubber. Who owns it? OWNERS OF some china pieces bought in Greece during the northern summer are being sought by a Christchurch woman. Mrs Lee Ellerm has returned from the Customs Department with her own china, unfortunately all smashed in transit by surface mail from Athens. But the wooden container, packed with wares she bought in Constitution Square, also held some pieces bought by someone from the same shop. Mrs Ellerm thinks those five pieces from Cos-tas-Gold in Athens may have been bought by someone else from Christchurch and packed in her box by mistake. If you were travelling in Greece between May and June and are expecting a shipment of china soon, get in touch with Mrs Ellerm at 515-758. If you can

describe the pieces, they are yours. Undressed AN OXFORD Hotel “regular” seems to blatantly ignore the Chloe’s Bar notice that says a high standard of dress is required in the bar. A patron has noticed that Chloe herself, pictured in a wall hanging, has nothing on at all (as he puts it, “bare from head to foot and toe-y,” to rhyme with the A lady’s name). He wonders whether the unfortunate Chloe came in wearing something forbidden, such as thongs, and was made to strip by the bar management as a warning to others. Drums dedicated COOK Islanders can now play the eight drums from their home islands displayed at the Otago Museum in Dunedin. At the week-end, the sound of beaten drums bopmed from the Dunedin Town Hall as the drums were blessed by the Bishop of Polynesia, then dedicated

in a tradition that recognises the gifts and talents God gave to their makers.. Because they have now gone through the proper ceremony, the drums — which have been in the museum for three years — also can be used by the local Cook Islands ityQuick changes SYDNEY has been going through some of its quick weather changes again this spring, with days that vary even faster than they do here when the atmosphere is unsettled. A Sydney weather man has explained it in terms that will be familiar to anyone who has weathered personal changes that are also unpredictable. The forecaster said that seasons there have “ragged edges,” and the weather does not know which way to turn, so it turns every which way. There are a lot of umbrellas and windbreakers being carried around the city these days when things are fine and hot. No-one likes being caught off guard.