SUMNER DAIRY SELLS OUT OF HOT CHIPS DURING POWER CUT NOBODY CAN EXPLAIN
The fryer was off. The chips kept coming. Locals queued anyway.
A Sumner dairy on the main drag sold out of hot chips during Wednesday's three-hour power cut, despite the fryer being switched off.
The outage hit just after 2pm. Traffic lights died. EFTPOS died. The bakery two doors down shut. The dairy's chip warmer, also off, kept dispensing chips to a queue that formed in minutes.
Customer Hema Watene, 34, walked down from Wakefield Ave assuming the dairy would be shut. "Door was open. Bloke had a head torch on. Chips were warm. I didn't ask questions, mate. Paid cash and left."
The owner, asked how the chips were being cooked, gestured at the back of the shop and said the situation was "under control". Pressed on whether they'd been done that morning, he said "some of them".
Orion confirmed power was out to the block from 2.04pm to 5.12pm. A spokesperson said they couldn't comment on the chips as the chips were "not a network asset".
The dairy reopened Thursday with a handwritten sign reading CHIPS BACK ON. Stocks sold out again by lunchtime.
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Reader Letters
Trev_Hornby
Chips during a power cut? Maybe the owner's got some sort of generator running just for the fryer. You get your things done in Kiwi style or you don't get 'em done at all.
Garry (Halswell)
Dead right, Trev! If there's a way to get the job done, Kiwis will find it. And probably not bother with much red tape!
Margaret_F
Reminds me of the time Walter's Pie Cart magically had steak and cheese pies when all the power was out in Lyttelton. Never knew how it was possible then either!
tired_in_riccarton
Classic, right? There must be some secret underground chip network we don't know about 🤣
couchgremlin
Lol. Magic chips.
ropeable_dave
Mate, everyone's missing the point here. Why does the council keep blaming power cuts on 'not a network asset'? It's always some excuse. What else aren't they telling us?