After paying a wallet-stretching NZ$500 a night
for the solitude and tranquillity of The
Lazy Fish, one of the Marlborough Sounds' best getaways,
and lapping up the brochure's claims of the absence of any
21st century amenities (think TV, internet, mobile phone access
etc. etc.), the familiar red booth came as quite a shock.
Closer inspection, however, soon showed this particular telephone
box to be a rather neat visual trick. Built out of local wood
by an anglophile (apparently there's a couple of them in the
Southern Hemisphere), the telephone box has been subtly adjusted
to accommodate very local tastes.
It does have a phone in it the only one you'll find
for miles around, it also has a 'Telephish' sign placed where
the usual well-lit 'Telephone' used to be slotted. Very Salvador
Dali.
However, this very British statement is actually a rather
nifty light-house for the Retreat's owner. Let's face it,
stick a 100-watt light bulb in a London telephone box at the
edge of a rocky outcrop and you're unlikely to miss it.
Of course, there is the potential that the uninitiated might
simply mouth a cockney-like 'Stone the crows' as they amble
towards the shoreline. But still, there's worse places in
the world to beach yourself than at the Lazy Fish. Just don't
forget your phone card!
Let us know, where you have seen the old red phone box, they
are slowly being replaced by the modern BT call boxes, but
there must still be many around the world. |
