Not far from the 24 hour dairy on George Street is Pussy Planet, a large two storey weatherboard house converted to a 7 bed flat. It’s had the name for many years, but this years residents made what may be it’s first sign.

Pussy Planet (2016) by Aleisha Ruske. Used with permission

Aleisha Ruske recalls how they learned their flat had a name, “There had been a garden gnome left there from the 2015 tenants with the name written on it. The group of girls I live with all went to Selwyn College last year, and our mascot is a gnome and all residents have one in our bedrooms so we got curious. There was also a boys name written on the inside and we found him on Facebook and discovered he’d been a Selwynite too — it’s a Selwyn tradition to “liberate” gnomes from other peoples gardens which is where this particular gnome must have come from. I’ve repainted it in Selwyn colours too and we plan on leaving it there for the next tenants.”