Reporter’s diary

Press, 24 December 1985, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Santa’s journey

THIS IS the time of year when some mews accounts tell us about mysterious flying contraptions being picked up by radar near the North Pole; heading south. In these accounts, a man we assume is Santa gets in all kinds of difficulties with a world that seems to forget who he is between Christmas seasons. This year, the Ministry of Agriculture has reported that a consignment of nine Scandinavian deer was seized by< quarantine officials at Auckland International Airport" last Friday. Since the deer. may be carrying unidentified pests and diseases, they are being held. The man trying to import them had an unusual vehicle, and was trying to bring in a big load of undeclared items as gifts.

The man has claimed diplomatic immunity and a list of exemptions on seasonal grounds. He wants clemency for the deer. It is probable that the meanies in the M.A.F. will relent and let the old fellow through. The Santa spotted bn the outskirts of Rangiora last week may be one of his helpers, coming down to scout the territory. He seems to have come to an awful impasse with a hedge, head down and legs up in a ; position that no Santa should ever have to endure. Plentiful POPPIES with Flanders crosses in them grow wild in cemeteries where soldiers are buried in New Zealand, according to a man who has them growing in his garden. His seed came

from a Dunedin cemetery. He says that seeds were brought back from France, mainly by people who carried them, inside their shoes. A man who farms near Methven told his daughter that the poppies were so plentiful that he had to spray them to stop them getting out of hand.

It is time THE STAFF in a Timaru accountant’s office had been urging their boss to spring for a new safe for a long time. The tin arrangement they had seemed to have lurked there since the Dark Ages. The boss was just a shade Scroogish, in the

words of one outside observer, but he took the point and sprang for a new safe after a burglar got in re> cently. The burglar, who was caught, was able to break open the safe with a pair of scissors found in the office. Southern Santa WALT Fowlie, from Patea, is Father Christmas at Scott Base this year. Most of his duties will be at Scott Base, where everyone is making or buying a small present for someone else. He will also do a bit of flying to reach Vanda Station in the Dry Valleys, where seven workers will spend Christmas Day. Pine trees from Christchurch have been flown down for the mess, the bar and the Post Office foyer at Scott Base, providing just about the only greenery in sight. Encounters A FIVE-YEAR-OLD Christchurch girl meeting her first Santas this season was pretty timid with the first one, but she got into the swing of things as she went from one to another. When the last one asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she said: “You don’t listen, do you? I’ve already told you three times.” —Stan Darling