"They were stranded at the wharf with everyone else," said a witness. "But they could see a cavalcade of choppers flying overhead ferrying people to Ross and Dallas Pendergrast's pad for lunch. It was like Vietnam, there were so many bloody choppers."
Things got worse when the rockers arrived at the vineyard and found it pre-booked for a wedding. But I'm told they were very gracious, but retreated to another eatery nearby. Despite the hiccups, their jaunt to Waiheke was a welcome breather for the American musos who kick off their Australasian tour tonight in Perth, before heading back next month for two concerts at Mt Smart Stadium.
Natalia's name game
You may know her as Natalia Kills, but the pint-sized X Factor NZ judge (she is 1.57m tall) has taken on many personas.
Natalie Kills in an episode of Silent Witness in 2006.
As a 17-year-old actress on British soap Casualty she went by Natalia Keery-Fisher, her birth name. Then she adopted her grandmother's name, becoming Natalie Cappuccini, where we found her on Silent Witness, circa 2006, playing a petulant school girl with a frizzy ponytail.
Now she plays the role of the perpetually astonished, over-enthusiastic TV appraiser.
Natalia Kills. Photo / NZME.
It's the inverse to the perpetually sullen, over-supercilious demeanour adopted by her hubby, Willy Moon. Will it be the last reinvention for Kills?
Betham to box Aussie after Twitter taunts
He's known as a mouthy Australian with a Twitter temper, but Adam Hollioake has got his wish - to battle league legend Monty Betham in the ring, The Diary can report.
The Melbourne-born former cricketer turned to cage fighting and boxing after a family-run property development business folded with millions in debts. He will fight against Betham in Christchurch on March 28 in a professional bout for Sky Arena's Super 8 tournament.
"Adam took to Twitter to be fierce. But you can't tweet in the ring," Betham told The Diary.
"I've done a bit of karate, but never cage fighting. That's barbaric," Betham said.
Hollioake told the Daily Mail: "When you step into that cage, you damn well know you are alive. I get more adrenaline from five minutes of that than from 17 years of cricket."
Up there with the ex-boss
Hilary Barry, the hardest-working woman in show business, will co-host MediaWork's morning show and co-helm the nightly TV news. It's Hilary for brekkie and Hilary for tea. But it's not the first time she's worked with Paul Henry.
As a young cadet more than 20 years ago, Hilary Pankhurst went to work at a small Carterton radio station owned by Henry.
Hilary Barry. Photo / NZME.
She was the newsroom's only employee, and received a beat-up Vauxhall Viva company car and a $19,000 salary.
"These were desperate times and I had very little money," Henry joked in a 2013 interview celebrating Hilary's 20th anniversary with TV3.
TV newscaster set to wed
Best wishes to TVNZ newscaster Miriama Kamo who is marrying her fiance, Mike Dreaver, on Saturday at the pair's rural retreat on Waiheke Island in front of close friends and family, including TVNZ pals Briar McCormack and Mark Crysell.
Miriama Kamo. Photo / NZME.
Kamo, the mum of toddler Te Rerehua and step-mum of teenager Sam, is understood to have negotiated a deal with a women's mag for exclusive coverage.
Sext messages final straw
Which high-society wife is taking her prominent and powerful hubby to the cleaners after discovering lurid and explicit sext messages he'd sent to a secret mistress? And who forwarded them to Mrs Wronged is the bizarre twist in a tale that has Auckland's well-heeled gossiping.
