It’s been an eventful two weeks here at Lucire. Sunglass Hut invited us to view the new-look stores—in time for the southern summer—along with some of the summer 2010 styles. The Lambton Quay, Wellington branch has the right ambience, and the Ray-Bans (below) are among the picks for the season.


   I don’t think it’s snobbery when I say I preferred some of the fancier name brands such as Prada and Versace—mainly because the colourful frames of Ray-Ban remind me of my very first pair of sunglasses bought for me on a family trip to Palmerston North in 1978. I was fond of them, but if I were buying today, I might fork out for something different.
   Our friend Denis Kenward also visited. Denis has new jewellery work for 2010 as well. While his traditional paua shell necklaces are still available—and he has since moved away from working with bone—he has other designs as well. They can be had with a chain, but I got to see them in a “raw” form.

   Finally, last night’s football game at the Westpac Stadium was notable not so much for the late equalizing goal from Melbourne—but the delivery of the match ball by the Life Flight Trust helicopter.


   There were dramas as the chopper was used for an emergency just prior, and the prizewinners delivering the ball had to be unexpectedly driven to the roof of Wellington Hospital to be collected. Due to the emergency, the landing was a few minutes late, but it did not disrupt proceedings.
   All Whites players Ben Sigmund and Tim Brown—riding a high after the World Cup qualifier—have agreed to become Life Flight Trust ambassadors, and the event at a special lounge at the Stadium celebrated the announcement.
   I was delighted that Miss New Zealand Katie Taylor could attend on my invitation—and complemented the glamour that the Life Flight Trust’s ladies brought to the event.
   The Life Flight Trust saves over a thousand lives a year, and while the helicopter rescue service is associated with it in the public’s mind, it also operates an aeroplane service, which often flies children to Starship Hospital, among other missions. The plane does not receive support from the Westpac bank, and the Trust could do with additional support from the community.

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