THE DIARY
Singer Elizabeth Marvelly, who performs in Wellington this month, says she isn’t best mates with fellow young classic crossover star Hayley Westenra, but they do know each other. ‘‘Hayley is lovely,’’ she says. ‘‘I do actually bump into her from time to time. The last time was the craziest experience. I was in Taiwan and walking through the lobby of my hotel and she just walked out of the lift and walked straight towards me,’’ Marvelly told your diarist. ‘‘I went, ‘What are you doing here?’ She said, ‘I was going to ask you the same thing’. It’s such a small world. Two Kiwi girls running into each other while staying the same hotel – in Taiwan.’’ Or perhaps it is a case of like attracts like? When sending out a press release earlier this week, the Bay of Plenty police communications manager Kim Perks forgot to check for typos, leading to a slightly confusing message. It seemed the ‘‘Police National Five Team’’ would be busy searching a waterway for evidence on a case. It led your diarist to wonder what exactly a Five Team does. Perhaps they tour the country doing impersonations of the muchloved children’s characters, the Famous Five? Luckily, Ms Perks realised her error later that evening, sending out the following message: ‘‘Hopefully you figured out that I was referring the Dive team and weren’t trying to work out what a Five team was. Apologies for my clumsy fingers.’’ After listening to arguments by barrister Steven Rollo in favour of allowing gang insignia on gravestones, Porirua city councillors were invited to ask him a few questions. While most councillors asked for a few clarifying points, councillor Liz Kelly took it as a good opportunity to make use of Mr Rollo’s extensive legal experience. Querying how Mr Rollo might word a proposed bylaw change, Ms Kelly remarked, ‘‘Sorry guys, I’m just trying to get in a bit of free legal advice here’’. He politely suggested the council would be better placed to get some advice from their legal team. When about 30 families were cut off from civilisation by a slip on a rural road near Levin this week, some went into survival mode, fretting about the lack of necessary supplies. But one woman had it covered. Gladstone Rd resident Sally Duxfield told The Dominion Post she had plenty of wine and Man vs Wild star Bear Grylls’ book Survival Techniques from the Most Dangerous Places on Earth for company.