Sideswipe

The driver of this car had to wait 1 1/2 hours for a tow truck driver to haul it out

Peter Clark of Blockhouse Bay warns of driving while wearing gumboots. "I was reversing with my boat trailer to park it at Cornwallis beach. Unfortunately when I went to press the brake (I had gummies on) my foot slipped on to the accelerator and the car shot over the stone wall."

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A journalist feeling a little lost - and car-less - after a long stint in Oz decides to embrace that most alien of concepts, public transport. He legs it in the pre-dawn dark to the bus stop in the bowels of Howick (official name Botany Downs). The feeder service to the Half Moon Bay ferry awaits and sets off promptly on a rat run through the never-ending streets of Dannemora. The bus seems to be heading in the wrong direction; probably just doing a big pick-up loop before setting forth to meet the ferry. Only when the driver starts heading for Otara does our rookie rider - and sole passenger - pipe up. "Aren't we going to Half Moon Bay?" Driver: "Oh yeah, that's right." With that, he turns in the opposite direction. Happily our bemused commuter is delivered to the ferry on time, and he's soon having another quiet chuckle over the public-spirited ferry skipper who waits until after pulling away from the wharf to announce over the public address system the registration of the vehicle in the car park with its lights still on.

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Editor of the Dog & Lemon Guide Clive Matthew-Wilson responds to the Clean Green Car Company's claim that hybrids give twice the fuel efficiency of ordinary cars. He writes: "We recently did a fuel comparison test between a Toyota Prius and a Morris Minor. They gave almost identical mileages on the open road. (We drained the fuel tanks of both and put 4.5 litres of petrol back in). The Prius did about 75km and the Morris about 71km before running out of petrol. Regarding the claim of less pollution, a couple of years back the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint that Toyota had produced no credible data to back its claims that the Prius produced 89 per cent fewer smog-forming emissions than the average new car."

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A reader and a friend, with 3-year-old child in tow, went into the local branch of the Accident Compensation Corporation. The toddler, presently undergoing toilet training, yells out that he needs to go, to which the receptionist responds that the toilet is for staff only and he will have to go elsewhere. Before the mother and the receptionist could debate the issue, the 3-year-old had relieved himself on their floor. ACC = Awesome Child Carers.

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Sarah writes: "Husband Stuart and I were enjoying a delicious meal at the Olympic Cafe in Newmarket. With amazing speed, a bag-snatcher opened the restaurant door and grabbed a woman's bag off the floor and took off up Carlton Gore Rd. Stuart, other diners and staff took off in hot pursuit. The outcome was that the bag was found on the ground with most of the contents intact. We carried on to finish our meal, went to pay and discovered that our entire meal had been paid for by the bag owner and her partner, with no chance for us to thank them."