No chilly reception for former mariners

It was a reunion of a cool sort in Dunedin on Saturday. Not that the atmosphere or the comradeship was cold; rather, it was they had spent many years in the Deep Freeze - Operation Deep Freeze, that is.

Between them, the icy sea salts who took part in this operation in the mid- to late-1960s south of New Zealand had plenty to talk about and lots of memorabilia to share and pore over after their lunch at the Cobb & Co restaurant.

Organiser and United States expat Kevin Burke synchronised the get-together with the visit of former US Navy crewman Bill Simms, from Philadelphia. Bill was on the USS Calcaterra out of Port Chalmers during the summer of 1967-68. The ship was effectively a floating navigation aid around 60-degrees South to help aircraft find their way to the Antarctic.

``A great, and nostalgic, time was had by all,'' Kevin says. ``We all agreed, since it was 50 years this month since the picket-ship programme officially ended, that we should do it again in another 50 years.''

Thanks Kevin. I'll look forward to covering it again in 2068.

Safety on the wharves

Sticking with the maritime theme, Errol Chave, of Dunedin, has some words of wisdom about Port Otago's move to block public access to the X/Y wharf and the Leith wharf near Fryatt St. The port company believes fishing from those wharves is dangerous due to shipping activities going on around fishermen and women.

Errol says he and his mates used to play in that area in the early 1950s and the wharves were even busier then, particularly with wool bales being moved on and off ships.

``We also used to sit under the Leith rail bridge and wait until the express went over - we could see it through the gaps in the sleepers.

``I don't think any of us came to any harm. As far as I know, I wasn't killed or anything.''

Docker talk?

A colleague passes on this slightly convoluted quote from Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders on the public safety and access issue.

``The window we have is a wee bit hard to manage to lock off operating wharves and provide that to the public would really conflict those core businesses we have to support with our port.''

In short, a multidimensional answer!

Smelly lilies

I prefer my garden to smell nice, but clearly some aren't so fussed about evocative fragrances wafting on the summer breeze.

Remember Anne Moir, of St Kilda, and her meaty-smelling lilies? Yesterday I received a handful of calls and emails offering assistance in identifying her stinky flowers.

Clare Fraser, of the Dunedin Botanic Garden, says the plant is Dracunculus vulgaris, which is apparently quite common in Dunedin and around the region.

Maureen Scott, also of St Kilda, says she has had bulbs of an Amorphophallus plant for more than 30 years and it flowered for the first time this year.

``Dreadful stench like rotten meat, but so wonderful to see. Keep them under the eaves over winter and when they begin to push through soil, bring into the conservatory to enjoy the emerging leaves. The smell comes from the cream pollen-like substance at the base of the stem.''

Maureen says her Stapelia grandiflora flowers every few years and also smells like rotten meat for a couple of days.

``The hot weather has helped these plants. But we also have sweet-smelling plants!''

Clare at the Botanic Garden says the team there was really pleased at the public interest in the corpse flower, Amorphophallus titanum.

``We knew there'd be a few visitors, so printed 1000 copies of fact sheets, thinking we probably had it covered. But there were so many visitors we ran out with no time to reprint.

``For those who missed out, the series of six is duplicated on the Botanic Garden web page: http://www.dunedinbotanicgarden.co.nz/about/corpse-plant

Pretty flowers

While we're in the botanical world, are there photos of any last sunflowers out there anyone wants to send in?

In tomorrow's column I'll show you the tallest ones we've heard about. To date.