Sideswipe: Wharf hammer brings community spirit

Philip Steven writes: "Last week discovered this sign in the shelter on the South Cove wharf, Kawau Island. Luckily half the nails have already been replaced by steel screws. Photo / Supplied

Carnival's Mardi Gras Cruise Ship

The Mardi Gras, a billion-dollar, 180,000-ton, 18-deck cruise ship boasting the world's first at-sea roller coaster, was supposed to debut in November last year. Photo / Supplied

The Mardi Gras, a billion-dollar, 180,000-ton, 18-deck cruise ship boasting the world's first at-sea roller coaster, was supposed to debut in November last year. While that has been postponed, along with the reopening of the cruise business in general, this grandiose testament to the engineering of leisure now seems like a perfect artefact of the "before times", as people like to say: that carefree world where packing together with more than 6000 strangers in the bars, restaurants, performance spaces of a cruise ship was a thing people did to relax. But now, perhaps, a gigantic and luxurious cruise ship may also be the ultimate emblem of the world we want back. Investors in Carnival and other cruise lines are betting that's the case.

In case you missed it

When animal welfare officers received a report of an unusual animal lurking in a tree in the Polish city of Krakow, they were not sure what to expect. Photo / Supplied

When animal welfare officers received a report of an unusual animal lurking in a tree in the Polish city of Krakow, they were not sure what to expect. But a visit to the area showed the creature in question was not a bird, or even a reptile - but a croissant. The Krakow Animal Welfare Society said the incident was genuine. Writing on Facebook, the organisation said its officers had asked the desperate caller whether the unidentified animal, which had been in the tree for two days, could be a bird of prey. The woman responded that it looked more like an iguana.

Apprentice pranks

Working in the insurance industry in Dunedin in the mid-seventies I recall that the new (naive) office junior was sent to get morning tea for the senior staff and went to three different bakeries to buy the manager's favourite, hot buttered ovaries.