Political posting, fake news and lockdown log

It is a real education watching the political situation on the northeast side of the Pacific.  My last posting was about those with deep pockets who have been chartering luxury yachts in the UK, to sail off to exotic destinations without touching port.  And ...

To my astonishment, the far-right site, Breitbart News, has turned that bit of gossip around in order to attack the Democrats.  Shock, horror, a Democrat supporter, David Geffen is one of those heading to sea in comfort, to avoid the virus.

"Billionaire Hollywood mogul and Democrat donor David Geffen notified the world that he is avoiding the coronavirus pandemic by hunkering down aboard his private yacht, Rising Sun, which is sailing somewhere off the coast of the Grenadines in the Caribbean," it announces in a breathless headline.

Presumably, this is not fake news -- not on the level of the lions in Moscow "breaking news" above, which I shamelessly pinched off the website of my favorite mini-emporium for wonderful clothes, Darling of Featherston Street.  It is, however, even more shameless than my theft, being politically blatant.  Undoubtedly, if I searched hard enough, I could find Republican donors, supporters of Boris, and voters of Labour who have headed for sea, but honestly, why should I bother?

After all, I should be doing housework.  It is day six of the big Kiwi Lockdown, and we are all urged to follow a routine.  Mine is to clean door handles, remotes, telephones and elevator buttons, along with all the usual things.  That is, if I recover from looking at my breakfast.  Many of my friends have announced that they are cleaning out bits of the house and garden while they are confined to quarters.  My mission is to clean out my deep freezer, and eat what I find.

In the past, when Ron and I were heading off to sea, I simply threw everything that was in the refrigerator into the freezer.  There are some very strange things in there -- bananas, for a start.  There was also a litre of milk, which I thawed and turned into a rice pudding.  I added soaked prunes to that, and tackle it every morning.  And, no matter how much I nibble, it only seems to get bigger.

We also had a wonderful bonus.  One of the apartments in our building belongs to a hotel manager, and boxes and crates arrived in our foyer, with lovely contents for all to use, being part of the clean out of the hotel refrigerators.  Mushrooms, eggs, and large containers of juices.  So we are not lacking in vitamin C, not yet, and there is protein aplenty.  I do wonder when I will get tired of mushroom omelettes, but they still taste delicious, and, meantime, there is the freezer to explore.

And last night I was rewarded by another bonus: right at the bottom, I found a tub of icecream!

Escaping the pandemic in style

The Telegraph reports that those with huge wallets are self-isolating in luxury at sea.  And the phenomenon isn't even confined to the zillionaires who own super-yachts. Lubbers with deep pockets are hiring them, plus crew and menials, for months.

As Alan Tovey writes, The world’s rich are hoping to sit out the Covid-19 pandemic in luxury aboard vessels in remote locations, according to London-based yachtbroker broker Burgess.

“People are looking for ways to weather the storm and a yacht in a nice climate isn’t a bad place to self-isolate,” said Jonathan Beckett, chief executive of Burgess.

He added there is increased interest in “alternative” remote locations for cruises, such as Alaska, islands in the South Pacific and the tip of Chile.

“One family has taken a yacht for nine weeks, and we have also had two long-term bookings for yachts of 130ft and 230ft,” Mr Beckett said. “Clients are arranging for their children to be schooled on board, with cooking lessons from the yacht’s chef and time with the crew in the engine room learning about technology.”

One does have to wonder just how safe they are at sea.  After all, cruise ships are now likened to petri dishes. Beckett reckons that a yacht “in a nice climate isn’t a bad place to self-isolate.”  Storage capacity is generous, meaning the boat can stay at sea for a good long time, and cleanliness standards are very high.

But what about the crew?  Presumably, they are all examined physically before boarding, but if just one case got past the coronavirus test...

There's a thriller in it.

The Lockdown Logbook

Well, New Zealand has managed to survive two days of total lockdown, in what we are told is an unprecedented, yet very necessary, move to stem the coronovirus plague.  We are not usually so obedient -- it must be because we like our prime minister.

After all, what other country has a leader who talks informally to her people from the privacy of her couch at home, wearing sweats after putting her toddler to bed?

It must be admitted that we are pretty original.  In Italy, during lockdown, the people sing to each other from balconies.  In New Zealand, we have dress-up Friday. As the Guardian reports:

Proving that clothes maketh even the virtual man, many New Zealanders are spending their second day of a nationwide lockdown dressed to the nines as part of the burgeoning #formalFridays movement.

The practice, introduced to the world by US talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel, encourages the millions of people currently under lockdowns or working from home in self-isolation, to take off their tracksuits for a day, and instead, dress fancy.

The snappy dressing stands in contrast to the last glimpse the country had of its prime minister Jacinda Ardern before lockdown, when she appeared on a Facebook live video, recorded from her couch in a tracksuit after putting her daughter Neve to bed. She apologised for wearing the sweatshirt, saying putting a toddler to bed could be a “messy business” so she wasn’t in her usual workwear.

https://www.facebook.com/jacindaardern

And, as for me, I was wearing Paula Ryan -- of course, being my favorite New Zealand designer.  But it was indeed, yet another strange day.

Today is Saturday, March 28, the third day of lockdown.  It is raining and a gale outside, which meant that the stern government message about not leaving home -- which is aired before the news in the morning -- seems more than a little redundant.  However the last two days were fine, and I did go out for a walk.  

We are allowed one recreational walk a day -- or so goes the recommendation.  The first day I had two walks -- the first to the building where my doctor has her surgery, and which has a whole floor requisitioned for flu jabs.  Seasonal flu, not the plague one.  The building is in the entertainment part of town, Courtenay Place, so it was quite bizarre seeing the streets empty, the bars and shops and restaurants all shut.  There were policemen dotted around.  One called out to ask why I was out, and when I said, "Flu jab," he said, "Good one," and gave me a big grin and a wave.

At the flu jab floor, there were two nurses, and just one patient, on his way out.  They are only seeing one at a time, thirty minutes apart.  One nurse came out of retirement for this, and we had a good gossip -- from one side of the huge room to the other -- about life in our childhood days.  Walking to school, the dental nurse with her foot-driven drill (in the "murder house"), homemade bread, ginger beer "plants," how we built huts and ran around in bare feet, swam in rivers, climbed trees. 

My recreational walk was in the evening, as it is still daylight saving. I walk up past my old university to the cricket ground, and then down a long path to the street at the back of our building. I saw no one at all.  Quite a change from threading through crowds of students, most on the cellphones and totally unaware that you are walking straight at them.  Yesterday, I took the same walk in the morning, and saw quite a few people.  Everyone veers well away as we approach each other, but there is a smile and a wave and a called-out greeting.  And there was a little more traffic, too.  The government has suddenly decreed that delivering firewood is an essential service, and so there was a surprising number of trucks carrying kindling. 

Stirringly Different

Hellfire Corner, by Alaric Bond

Alaric Bond is one of the best — if not the best — of the novelists of the Nelson-and-Napoleon era.  His Fighting Sail series is right up there with Horatio Hornblower’s C.S. Forester books, with equally exciting battle scenes, and without those tiresome, introspective, self-doubting musings that led to one reviewer famously calling Hornblower “the Hamlet of the quarterdeck.”

Accordingly, it was a bit of a surprise when Bond suddenly switched to a different era, a different kind of boat, and a very different set of heroes.  Hellfire Corner is set in Dover, England, during the height of the Second World War.  The town certainly merited being given the same nickname as the title.  As Bond describes succinctly and tellingly, the citizens had to hunker down more than most, being battered by long-range guns from the French coast, as well as by regular blitzing from German bombers.

The different kind of boat is a totally new one to me, a craft that sounds not too much different from a weekender’s plywood launch, except that it is powered by a set of extremely powerful engines, and armed with a set of cannon.  Both guns and engines are described in detail, with obvious relish: this is a book that will be greatly enjoyed by blokes who rode motorbikes in their youth, and took old bangers of cars apart to make them go faster and better.  For myself, I was satisfied that these gunboats were very fast, and could hammer the enemy very well.  The problem was that they were also very vulnerable, liable to explode into a floating pile of splinters with one unlucky hit. 

This means that the very different heroes were heroic indeed.  The men were incredibly brave, with amazing spirit.  Bond has always been good at describing the lower deck tars in his Nelson-era books, and the same talent is applied most convincingly to the volunteers who manned these craft.  It was this, for me, that made this book a page-turner.

And there is another Fighting Sail book in the planning stages — the thirteenth, or so the author told me, after an emailed query.  It involves all the old exciting stuff — privateers, frigates, press gangs, sadism on the afterdeck, secret missions, and, of course, battles.  How Bond manages to swing from era to era, from ship to boat, and from tarry sailors to World War Two gunners, I can’t even start to guess.  But his readers are privileged that he does it.

Bulls and bears and Wall Street

We all know (I think) that a bear market is one that falls, and a bull market is one that rises. The statue of a bull is an icon of Wall Street.   And financial commentators are talking about bulls turning into bears all the time, in these fraught days.

But what is the origin of the terms "Bull Market" and "Bear Market"?

In California, during the goldrush and even earlier, entrepreneurs used to build a sort of stadium to entertain those with gold dust or coins to spend. This was a sand arena surrounded by a stout high fence, known as a 'pit.' A newcomer to town would notice first that the posts on the inside of the fence had been clawed and gnawed, evidently by some large and angry animal. If he had read the posters plastered to the walls of the local buildings, he would know that animal was probably one of the fabulously large bears native to the area. If the sand was trampled and bloodied from a previous contest, he would guess that the blood had come from a bull.

A forerunner of the bull and bear fights that were so popular in early California was the good old English custom of bear-baiting, a favorite spectator sport of Henry VIII and his daughter, Elizabeth. In England, a bear was chained to a post set near enough to the edge of the arena to make the contest exciting for the nearby spectators, and then dogs were released into the arena. The dogs were replaced as they were killed or maimed, until they ran out of dogs―in which case, the bear was the winner―or else the bear was killed. To enliven the brutal sport, other animals might be matched against the bear, and often this was a bull.

In California, grizzlies―which roamed the forests in their thousands―were trapped and carted, snarling and ripe for battle, in cages to the arenas. Once chained to the post, it was usual for a bear to scrape a deep hollow in the sand, where it lay like a shaggy rug while it waited for what was to come. Often, dogs were sent in first, in an echo of the English sport. Their job was to worry and infuriate the bear. While this was going on, the audience arrived, often from many miles away, as bull and bear fighting was hugely popular. The men watched from horseback, while a special dais provided elevated viewing for women and children.

Once the bear was well roused, and the spectators were assembled, the other main feature of the program was released into the arena. This was a wild bull, itself tormented to a pitch of ferocity. The bull's only chance of survival was to charge the bear at once, head lowered to gore him through the chest, and then fling him up through the air. This was quite a challenge, as the grizzly could weigh more than one thousand pounds, but occasionally happened. More usually, the grizzly countered the charge by rising to his full height, massive and utterly fearsome. Setting claws and teeth into the bull, he dragged him down, sinking slowly backward into the hollow, and taking the bull with him as the crowd roared for blood.

Originally, it was an entertainment staged and enjoyed by vaqueros. During the gold rush these fights became commercialized, with particularly large and fearsome bears―given jazzy names like 'General Scott'―being valued at $1,500 or even more. The fights were advertised weeks beforehand. Tickets cost $1.50, and after 1853 were taxed by the legislature. "The scene was gay and brilliant," wrote one spectator, enchanted by the dust, scent, and excitement of the crowd, the jingle of golden coins and silver spurs, the rattle of horse leathers, the cries of the hawkers, the showily dressed women, and the brightly striped serapes worn by many of the men.

It is said that Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, was so impressed by one such "gay and brilliant" scene that he coined the phrase "bull and bear" for the ups and downs of the financial market. As a successful bull tosses the bear, so a "bull market" is one that rises. A "bear market," on the other hand, is like the bear that lurks in its hollow, rises to its menacing height, and then implacably drags the bull down.

Virus tips from China

My classmate's uncle  works in Shenzhen Hospital China and was assigned to study Wuhan pneumonia virus.  He just told me on phone that if you have a runny nose and sputum when you have a cold, it cannot be a new type of coronavirus pneumonia, because coronavirus pneumonia is a dry cough without runny nose. This is the simplest way to identify.  

  

我同学的叔父在深圳的医院工作,被调研武汉新冠病毒。打电话告诉:要是你会流鼻涕吐痰的话,那是伤风感冒,不会是感染上新冠病毒。因为后者只会乾咳,不会流鼻涕。这是最简易的辨认方法。
 
The Wuhan virus is not heat-resistant and can be killed at a high temperature. Therefore, drink more hot water to prevent it. Get a lot of sunshine. Try not to drink ice water. 

  

武汉病毒不耐 热 。所以,要多喝热水。多晒太阳。喝热水虽不能治愈,但对身体好。喝热水对所有的病毒都有效。千万别喝冰水。

Doctor's advice about coronavirus:

1. It is pretty large in size (cell is about 400-500nm diameter), so any normal mask (not just the  N95 feature) should be able to filter it out. However, when someone who's infected sneezes in front of you, it will take a great 3 meters (about 10 feet) before it drops to the ground and is no longer airborne. 

  

此类病毒的体积相当大(约400-500豪微米 - 注:单位是十亿份之一米)所以一般口罩都能挡住,不必是N95那种。但是,要是面前有患者咳嗽的话,喷出的涶沫,大概需要3米以上的距离,才会落地而不再飞扬。

2. When the virus drops on metal surface, it can survive for at least 12 hours. So if you come in contact with any metal surface, wash your hands with soap thoroughly. 该病毒如落在金属表面,可生存至少十二小时。所以,切记,在碰触金属物件後,需要(马上)用肥皂彻底洗手。

  

3. The virus can remain active on fabric for 6-12 hours. Normal laundry detergent should kill the virus. For winter clothing that does not require daily washing, you can put it out under the sun to kill the virus. 该病毒在织物表面可生存6-12小时。一般洗涤剂都会把它杀死。冬季的厚衣服不需要每天换洗的,可用晒太阳来杀病毒。

About the symptoms of the pneumonia caused by Coronavirus: (一般)病状

  

1. It will first infect the throat, so the throat will have the dry sore throat feeling which will last for 3 to 4 days 最先感染喉部,会有3-4天感到喉部干燥。

  

2. Then the virus will blend into the nasal fluid and drips into the trachea and enter the lungs, causing pneumonia. This process will take 5 to 6 days. 然后,病毒由喉液滴入气管,進入肺臓,导致肺炎。这一段需要经过5到6天。

  

3. With pneumonia, comes high fever and difficulty in breathing. The nasal congestion is not like the normal kind, but it will feel like you are drowning in water. It's important to seek immediate medical attention if this happens. 患了肺炎,就会发高烧,呼吸困难。鼻子不是一般的塞,而是有如被水淹的感觉。如有此类感觉,必须赶快就医。

  

About prevention: 预防办法

1. The most common way of getting infected is by touching things in public areas, so you must wash your hands frequently. The virus can only live on your hands for 5-10 mins, but you may rub your eyes or pick your nose unwittingly in those 5-10 mins . 最容易被感染是摸触了公共场所的东西。所以,必须常洗手。(虽然)病毒只会留在手上5到10分钟,但在那期间可能有很多事情会发生(例如你可能用手揉眼睛或挖鼻子)。

2. Aside from washing your hands frequently, you can gargle with "Betadine Sore Throat Gargle" to eliminate or minimize the germs while they are still in your throat (before dripping down to your lungs). 除去常洗手以外,你也可以用Betadine漱口药水嘓洗喉咙,乘病毒还在喉部没有滴入肺臓以前,就尽量把他们歼灭。 

So Folks, take a great care and drink plenty of hot water. 

Cruise line cancellations

From Cruise Critic Australia

AIDA

German cruise line AIDA has suspended all operations through early April.

Cruisers on canceled voyages are asked to rebook for another cruise through spring 2022; bookings made by May 31, 2020 will receive an onboard credit.

AmaWaterways

AmaWaterways has suspended the operations of its European river cruise fleet and cancelling all Europe river cruises through April 25, 2020.

Avalon Waterways

Avalon Waterways has suspended travel across all destinations through April 30.

Azamara

Azamara is canceling any sailings scheduled to depart from a U.S. port for the next 30 days.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Cruise Line will pause operations across its fleet of ships based in North America through Thursday, April 9.

Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity is canceling any sailings scheduled to depart from a U.S. port for the next 30 days.

Celestyal Cruises

All cruise operations are suspended until May 1.

Passengers who paid in full for the canceled sailings will be offered a future cruise credit valued at 120 percent of the original booking value, or a refund of original amount paid.

Costa Cruises

Costa Cruises has announced it will temporarily suspend its global cruise operations through April 3, 2020.

Cruise & Maritime Voyages

Cruise & Maritime Voyages is suspending all cruise operations until April 24.

Crystal Cruises

Crystal has cancelled sailings on Crystal Serenity until April 21 and Crystal Symphony until May 8.

Disney Cruises

The Walt Disney Company has cancelled all new departures on Disney Cruise Line from March 14 through the end of the month.

Fred. Olsen

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is suspending all ocean sailings until May 23, 2020.

Gate 1 Travel

All Gate 1 trips have been suspended for departures through Apr 30.

Cruise payments, and travel insurance if selected, will be available as a future travel credit. Passengers can apply these funds towards new travel services booked within 18 months.

MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises is stopping all of its U.S.-based cruise operations for 45 days, through April 30.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line is suspending cruise operations through April 11, 2020.

Oceania Cruises

Oceania Cruises is suspending cruise operations through April 11, 2020

Paul Gauguin Cruises

Paul Gauguin Cruises has suspended all cruise calls in French Polynesia until April 11, 2020, following the French State and French Polynesian authorities suspending all calls in French Polynesia until April 11, 2020.

Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises has suspended fleet operations until May 10.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Regent Seven Seas Cruises is suspending cruise operations through April 11, 2020

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean is canceling any sailings scheduled to depart from a U.S. port for the next 30 days.

Saga Cruises

Saga has suspended operations on its two ocean ships from March 15 to May 1. In a statement, the line said: "Given the government advice, we have taken the very difficult decision to temporarily suspend our Ocean Cruises onboard Saga Sapphire and Spirit of Discovery from 15 March 2020 to 1 May 2020. This is a decision we have not taken lightly. However, with the current circumstances, we no longer believe that we can give you the cruise experience you would expect from Saga.

"If you have booked a Saga Ocean Cruise during this period, we are offering you an additional future cruise credit to the value of 25%. This means if you choose to amend your booking to a future date, the full amount you have paid for your cruise, plus an extra 25% will be transferred to that booking; or we can send you a voucher for this amount to be redeemed against any future Saga Ocean Cruise. This future cruise credit will last for a period of 24 months."

Scenic Group

The Scenic Group, which includes Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours and Emerald Cruises, will temporarily suspend all river cruise operations until April 30, 2020.

Silversea Cruises

Silversea is canceling any sailings scheduled to depart from a U.S. port over the next 30 days.

Uniworld

Uniworld Boutique River Cruises has suspended all European itineraries until April 23.

Viking Cruises

Viking Cruises has suspended all ocean and river cruises until April 30.

Virgin Voyages

The new cruise line has postponed the launch of its first ship, Scarlet Lady, until July 15.

Windstar Cruises

Small ship cruise operator Windstar has suspended cruises embarking March 14 through April 30.

Princess suspends all sailings for two months

According to the Guardian, Princess is taking a breather.

The cruise operator Carnival is halting the journeys of all ships in its Princess Cruises line for two months because of the global spread of coronavirus.

Carnival, the world’s largest cruise company, said it would voluntarily pause all 18 vessels which sail under the Princess Cruises brand, affecting all voyages departing between 12 March and 10 May.

Shares in the company plummeted by 17% on the London stock exchange, to £18, while its US shares were halted in pre-market trading. In January, the shares were changing hands at nearly £52.

Three more travel insurers withdraw cover for coronavirus

 

Read more

The president of Princess Cruises, Jan Swartz, said the company had taken the decision in order to reassure passengers, employees and investors.

Passengers currently on one of the vessels would complete their journeys as expected if the cruise was due to end in the next five days. Those on longer voyages would disembark early at alternative locations.

Princess Cruises, which has more than 50,000 passengers from 70 countries onboard its ships each day, has been especially hard hit by the spread of Covid-19.

One vessel, the Diamond Princess, was quarantined for two weeks off the coast of Japan, with 3,000 passengers and crew onboard, as it became a floating breeding ground for the virus, resulting in at least seven deaths.

Shortly afterwards, the Grand Princess was held off California after it was linked to the death of a US man who had previously travelled onboard.

A couple from Florida who were on the cruise liner have filed a $1m lawsuit against Princess Cruises, accusing it of failing to protect passengers from the outbreak.

Carnival’s decision to suspend operations follows that of the river and ocean cruise operator Viking Cruises. The Switzerland-based firm announced on Wednesday it would temporarily stop all departures between 12 March and 30 April.

US Icebreaker scheduled for Wellington visit

The United States Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand, reports that an interesting Coast Guard ship is to make yet another visit to Wellington.  

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) POLAR STAR (WAGB-10) will make a port call in Wellington later this week.  The United States has been granted New Zealand’s permission for the POLAR STAR to visit after completing its seasonal operations in support of the National Science Foundation-managed U.S. Antarctic Program.

Each year the USCGC POLAR STAR breaks a channel through the sea ice of McMurdo Sound to allow a cargo ship and fuel tanker to resupply the scientific programs on the ice.  The icebreaker then escorts these ships safely in and out of the area. 

This annual resupply allows for year-round scientific activities in Antarctica and is critical to the operation of New Zealand’s Scott Base and the U.S. base, McMurdo Station.  In turn, McMurdo Station serves as a logistics hub for various field camps and for Amundsen-Scott South Pole Stations (800 miles or approximately 1,300 kilometers inland from McMurdo).  

This is the fifth visit of a U.S. Government ship since 2016:  

• The USS SAMPSON visited in November 2016 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Royal New Zealand Navy; 
• The USCGC POLAR STAR called in to Lyttelton in February of 2017 on its return from Antarctica, 
• The USCGC POLAR STAR returned to Lyttelton in January of 2018;
• The USCGC POLAR STAR called in Wellington in February of 2019 and;
• The USCGC POLAR STAR will visit Wellington again this week. 

As well as resupplying and refueling in Wellington, the icebreaker will host school groups while in port. 

Ambassador Brown says the possibility of any future U.S. ship visits to New Zealand would continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis by the two countries. 

“We’re delighted to have the United States Coast Guard back in town. POLAR STAR’s visits to New Zealand make so much sense and are becoming a regular fixture. I can’t think of a better demonstration of U.S.-New Zealand cooperation than the POLAR STAR sailing from Antarctica, where we are close partners and neighbors on the Ice, to a New Zealand harbor,” he says.

Wellington's World-famous Cat

His name is Mittens.  And it seems that he is a Turkish Angora -- a fine breed, seemingly, because it has given him the charisma of a king.

He lives on the Terrace in Wellington, and so do I, so it's not surprising that I have seen him a few times, but without knowing, then, that he was a Famous Cat.

Not only does he have his own Wikipedia entry, but he has his own Facebook page, called "The Wondrous Adventures of Mittens," with 30K+ members.

And how does he earn all this publicity?  With insatiable curiosity, and a most unusual self-confidence.  Not only does he wait for the green light before crossing streets, but he is perfectly capable of jumping into an elevator.  Thus, he is seen all over downtown, from churches to strip clubs, and everything in between.  He gives free publicity in the course of his wandering, various firms boasting that he has paid a visit to their premises.  It even works if he simply sits down!

He sat on one of our boxes, proudly posted Pomodoro Neapolitan Pizza, who promptly put the box up for auction.

Mittens is a regular visitor to our pizzeria. His last visit included his endorsement of our pizza by his sitting proudly on top of this pizza box. This auction includes this special pizza box, plus two pizzas of your choice! ALL proceeds will be donated in Mittens name, to the Wellington Cats Protection League.

And after a spell of energetic bidding, the auction was closed, with $101 headed for the charity.

There are stacks of photos of Mittens all over the internet.  "There's a Group of People In New Zealand Who Take Photos of a Local Cat whenever they Meet Him," headlines boredpanda.com, and supplies 45 samples of photos posted.

I found out that Mitten was a celebrity when he starred in the Guardian newspaper.  

"A feline that roams New Zealand’s capital city and is welcomed into tattoo parlours, hairdressers and office towers has become a social media star, with 30,000 followers who track his every movement online," the item begins. 

"Mittens first came to attention in 2018 after repeatedly wandering inner-city dwellings, including the university, the post office, and a Catholic church. Mittens was also reportedly taken to the police station by concerned locals.After repeated encounters with Mittens, an SPCA employee started a Facebook page to reassure locals that the cat wasn’t lost and didn’t need to be “rescued” – he was just adventurous."

And people whose apartments he visits feel honored -- particularly if he takes a rest on their bed.

And he has featured on radio, too.  "If you're having a bite to eat on Wellington's Cuba St, attending a class at Victoria University, or even getting a haircut in the central city, you might just meet the capital's fluffiest celebrity," the blurb begins.

"Mittens the cat is making waves on social media due to his tendency to roam the city and invite himself into restaurants, shops, and other people's flats.

"Mittens' owner Silvio Bruinsma joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss what he thinks of the adventures of his celebrity cat!"