Our Shipping Reporter thought Santa had come early when an odd package addressed to him arrived from Darwin which contained the above made in Indonesia luminescent mermaid ,with accessories, in recycled wrapping paper from a visit to France.
It was a delayed birthday present from a son who knows his barnacle- encrusted father is obsessed with mermaids , especially the mutilated one on Magnetic Island , off Townsville .
Readers of this blog are aware that the Shipping Reporter has long urged that the mauled mermaid be rebuilt and turned into the centre of a regular art festival, instead of the now brief part of her body remaining left to the elements on the rocks at the main entrance to the island.
He suggests the Townsville City Councii and the Perc Tucker Gallery should strongly examine this proposal, first made by a visiting Darwin artist.
Named Isla, by island residents shocked at her treatment, she could , he claims, become as big an attraction as the popular Little Mermaid of Copenhagen , Denmark .
It was exclusively revealed in Little Darwin that the mermaid had been bought in Geelong, Victoria, and transported to the island strapped next to the driver of a car , attracting some strange glances along the way , including from police .
During the trip north, the Queensland police pulled the driver over , and when the door was opened out fell a whisky bottle. The gendarmes immediately thought they had a case of driving under the influence of demon grog and a fibreglass mermaid . However, the driver explained he makes his own kickapoo juice , the dead marine that fell out one of about 24 empties to be filled carried onboard.