The great thing about being an ODT reporter is having an excuse to ring people for a bit of a yarn. Half the time the results are just kind of interesting but not really ''news''. Today the Wanaka team shares the best and worst of the week's ''just kind of interesting'' stuff from around the Upper Clutha - including a painting, whitebait and babies.
Saturday
Wind-blown: Asked Rachael Milner to pose Titanic-like, to demonstrate the strength of the wind that closed Cardrona Alpine Resort on its opening day.
The result (pictured right) didn't really work.
Took a picture of snow flurries blowing across the windscreen. And neither did that.
Obviously not every picture is worth 1000 words.
Monday
New recruit: Jessica Maddock, late of Radio New Zealand and the Sun joined the ODT's Wanaka reporting staff replacing Lucy Ibbotson, who we are looking forward to seeing feature in the ODT's births column early next week.
Jessica was at the ODT in Queenstown in 2006 and 2007 before moving to Radio New Zealand, and she was judged Journalist of the Year at the 2012 New Zealand Radio Awards for her coverage of the Christchurch earthquake.
Chitty chitty: Naomi Lindsay at the Wanaka Warbirds and Wheels Museum rang to say bids for the painting of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Julian Ford, of Queenstown, and signed by Sir Peter Jackson, got as high as $4000 on Trade Me, but then the top bidder pulled out, leaving the best bid at $2000 - not enough she says.
Baiters: Rang Haast identity Eamonnd Johnston to gauge local feeling about plans to farm whitebait in Warkworth [see ODT June 16] which, if successful could reduce demand for the wild stuff.
Eamonnd could not foresee any particular down side for locals because of the change in the make-up of whitebaiters.
Once, he said, whitebaiters sold their whitebait locally and spent their money locally.
Now, a whitebaiter was ''a retired, well-off person'' in a camper van, who froze their whitebait and sold it back home, so ''Haast never sees it.''
Wednesday
Sigh: There was an audible sigh of relief from the public gallery at the Wanaka Community Board meeting when board members agreed to recommend to the full Queenstown Lakes District Council that it lease reserve land to the Wanaka Watersports Facility Trust for a lakeside building.
Nutshell: Sport Central's Bill Godsall explained to the Wanaka Community Board ''in a nutshell'' what his organisation did to get and keep people active, ending with a slogan borrowed from the West Coast: ''Kids in sport stay out of court.''
Thursday
Chain gang: Roading contractors employed by the Queenstown Lakes District Council are always instructed not to talk to the media, but one employee too polite to ignore the ODT in the snow at ''chain bay one'' on the Crown Range said by 2pm 17 cars had turned back, 10 had fitted chains, and four were ''runners'' who ignored her advice and carried on regardless.
Two runners, she noted, quickly changed their minds and headed back to Wanaka.
