Reporter’s diary

Press, 27 June 1983, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Long journey? A CANISTER of colour film that may have been lost in the mountains has been found near the mouth of the Waimakariri River. The much-corroded canister was found floating in the river by a wildlife ranger, Mr W. E. McEwan, of Featherston Avenue, Kaiapoi. He had it processed and found that 13 of the frames showed highcountry scenes. One, a small, indistinct segment of which is reproduced here, shows two trampers. Mr McEwan believes the film may have been lost high in the mountains and if so it travelled “a hell of a long way” before being found. His ’ experience in finding other objects on the beach allows for the possibility that an incoming tide pushed the canister into the river. The transparencies, mounted as slides, are being held for the owner by Mr McEwan. Sundayised LET US hope that a new word which has come

use in Australia is not imported here. Some Australians are campaigning to have Sunday “de-sabbati-calised,” which means that they want more trading on the day that has traditionally been one of rest. The word was apparently coined by Mr Bob Hawke in the days before he became the leader of the Labour Party. A load of bull ONE OF our agricultural colleagues visited the rented house of a friend recently and was quite startled to find that a prominent feature of the lounge was the stuffed and mounted head of a Hereford steer or bull, with a handsome set of horns. Remembering that the friend is a butcher, the colleague asked if he was bringing work home with him. The friend replied that the beast was left by the landlord when the house was rented out. But the butcher derives enjoyment from inviting visitors to open the door in the wall beside the head to “see the

rest of him.” Some are trapped into looking. Good cuppa HOPE MAY be in sight for tea connoisseurs who cannot abide the product dispensed from bending machines. An Englishman, Terence Piper, has patented a new powdered tea that can be dispensed from vending machines and which, he claims, is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. British vending machines dispense about 12 million drinks a day, but only one cup of tea is sold to every six of coffee. Mr Piper says that his tea, which has won two awards, is made exclusively from ground leaves and is brewed in the cup, making a tasty and healthy cuppa. World skiers NEW ZEALAND will send a team of disabled ’ skiers to the 1984 World Winter Games for the Disabled in Innsbruck, Austria, next January. The games are held every four years and when New Zealanders competed in Norway, in 1980, they took one tenth and two sixth places. Eight people were chosen for a training squad after the New Zealand disabled ski-ing championships last year. They include three from the South Island — Craig Philip, Mark Edwards, and Daryll Gill. The final team for the 1984 games will be chosen later this year. The cost of sending the team to Austria, with managers, coaches and a physiotherapist, is expected to be more than $lOO,OOO. Charity dinners and a national raffle will be held to raise the funds. Blondes out THE MYTH that gentlemen prefer blondes has finally been laid to rest, in France of all places, the “Daily Express)’, has reported. The

romantic-minded Frenchman is now getting switched on by brunettes, according to a survey by the leading fashion magazine, “Elie.” Thirty-nine per cent of the men polled said a brunette would be their first choice as a female companion. Only 26 per cent said they still warmed to the sight of a blue-eyed , blonde. Brunettes wee preferred by men because they were believed to be warmer, more temperamental, and easier to get. But the message has not yet got through to the mademoiselles. A check with hairdressers showed that 46 per cent of women seeking a change in hair colour wanted to go blonde.