And as the months rolled on, seals were found further and further from the shore. One turned up in rural Helensville, sparking a police call-out. Another was found more than 1km from the sea in a paddock in Hobsonville. There was even a rare visit from a leopard seal at Kohimarama Beach.
But none was more comfortable under the public glare than the sea lion that showed up at the public pools in Dunedin. The 1.5m animal basked in the sun and took a couple of dips before it was finally coaxed back to the ocean. "It made its own way out, back through the double doors, through the cafe and reception and through the next double doors," said the conservationist who finally persuaded it to leave.
There was more drama at public pools further south, as a serial pooper struck in Invercargill every Friday for several weeks in a row. A single culprit -- thought to be a very naughty child -- was suspected at first, but by week six the exasperated pool manager asked: "How do you prove something is deliberate unless you catch them in the act?"
The mystery pooper remains at large, but other mysteries had happier endings this year. None was more cloyingly cute than the tale of Scottish backpacker Sarah Milne, who pinned a note to a tree in Picton on the off-chance the beachgoer she'd exchanged a fleeting smile with might fancy a date. A media frenzy ensued, with the story making international headlines. The mystery man -- Picton barista William Scott Chalmers -- took her up on the offer, what was meant to be a one-night date turned into a week-long romance.
A private sleuth helped to solve the mystery disappearance of a crane truck called Buddy, which ended up making a 2000km round trip to the Chatham Islands and back. Buddy was stolen from Martinborough in March, and was returned two months later. "The team are beside themselves ... we definitely had affection for that truck," Buddy's relieved owner said.
A waste truck nicknamed Little Sucker also found its way back to home after it was stolen from a Dunedin company. The thieves were caught on camera in an unsuccessful attempt to steal diesel from a service station, and later tried to crudely paint over the company branding on the distinctive truck. Little Sucker was found, abandoned and slightly worse for wear, on a Christchurch street. The company planned a barbecue party for the return of their "poor wee baby".
While Little Sucker's thieves were fuel-stealing amateurs, a Wairarapa man ran a much slicker operation. Paul John Lovett used an electric pump and five big plastic barrels in the back of his Toyota station wagon to siphon fuel directly from the underground tanks at three service stations, stealing more than 2000 litres in total. But Lovett forgot one of the key requirements of any successful heist -- concealing one's identity -- and his vehicle was identified on CCTV footage. He pleaded guilty to three charges, while a co-accused is still before the courts.
Comically bad driving also made headlines this year. One motorist who got confused about how to enter an Auckland car park tried to drive down pedestrian stairs -- but his hatchback got stuck half-way down. The car was undamaged but remained on the steps for several hours before it was removed.
Later, a luxury Audi A7 got stuck on Auckland's Kohimarama Beach. A bystander said the owners were trying to photograph the car on the beach, but it got stuck deeper and deeper in the sand. It was towed away before the tide changed.
In Hastings, police pulled over a pink golf cart because the unwarranted, unregistered vehicle was being driven on a public road. In Wairarapa, a driver was caught using a laptop at the wheel. In Auckland, a woman won a $50,000 BMW after an April Fool's Day joke turned out to be true. In Whanganui, a drunk man started smashing up cars because his mates had taken his car keys off him. And in the same city, the wall of a woman's property was destroyed for a fifth time in a dozen years after a car slammed into it. "Well, obviously something's not right," she said of her road.
There were dramatic rescues this year. Firefighters had to abseil down a cliff to rescue a 2-year-old Jack Russell, Reap, who had been chasing a ball. "We were having a picnic, I took my eye off him and he went over," his owner said. Reap sat calmly on a cliff ledge while he waited to be rescued.
In Nelson, two naked teenage girls sparked a full-scale rescue after getting into trouble in the water while skinny-dipping with a male companion.
And in Northland, Tippi the serial tree-climbing dog had to be rescued after becoming stranded on a 5m high branch. On a previous occasion, owner Robyn Martinovich climbed the tree herself to rescue Tippi. But on this occasion, a recent hospitalisation meant she had to call the Fire Service. "It was really embarrassing telling the operator I had a dog stuck in a tree," she recalled.
The tables were turned on a police search dog who went missing in the Tararua Ranges during a training exercise in May. A frantic search was launched for Thames, a 4-year-old german shepherd, as his handler Constable Mike Wakefield grew increasingly anxious. But after seven nights in the unforgiving bush with no food, shelter or company, he was found, hungry but otherwise unharmed.
Thames' eight-day ordeal was nothing compared with a Wairarapa turtle's massive walkabout. Samantha wandered off from her Greytown home and was found crossing a road some five weeks later. She was promptly reunited with her tank-mates, Doris and Squirt. "They were all pleased to see each other, it was cute," her owner said.
One of the stranger missing pet tales this year involved an online stoush and a social media sensation. Grey Lynn woman Joyce Quah publicly accused Caitlin Davidson -- who has more than half a million followers -- of taking her chinchilla persian cat, Chloe. Davidson said she had found the $600 purebred and taken her in. The stoush went to the Disputes Tribunal, which ordered Davidson to surrender the cat. Quah was reunited with Chloe the day before Christmas Eve.
But perhaps the strangest tale this year was the Nelson couple who unexpectedly had a baby just hours after finding out they would become parents last month.
Sous chef Charlene Wells, 28, had complained about back pains, but put it down to being "on her feet all day at work", her partner Eamon Parkes said. The next day, she took a pregnancy test, which came back positive. She was roughly 37 weeks pregnant and 12 hours later gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Carlo.
"It's the best early Christmas present," Parkes said.
