Baby Jesus going for abs of steel this Christmas. (Via Jeremy Parkinson.)
Prickly 'kiwi' spotted in Papakura
Last week Department of Conservation (DoC) ranger Stefan Sebregts got a phone call in the middle of the night about a kiwi sighting in south Auckland. "Calling the DoC hotline DOCHOT the woman on the phone said: 'Oh you're gonna like this one'. Well, bring it on I thought.
DOCHOT had received a call from the South Auckland Police, who had received a call from a guy in Papakura, who had picked up a 'kiwi bird' on the side of the road. Now that got my blood flow going - all my sleepiness was instantly gone. So, I gave the guy a call and, with his very broken English, tried to communicate about the animal in question. I tried asking how long its beak was, to which the initial reply was 1 metre, but corrected in the background to 8cm. Hmm, could be. Colour ... yes, brown. Body shape ... yes, rounded stubby. Well then, shall I call the Bird Rescue Centre? Maybe not yet. Let's see if they can take a photograph and email it to me. So, after another five minutes or so trying to get him to understand my email address, I received a picture of ... wait for it ... a hedgehog. I resumed my much-needed sleep with a grin on my face, knowing about this new kiwi species in Papakura." (Source: Conservation Blog)
Costly carparking lesson
Eddie writes: "Went to the Auckland Viaduct carpark on Market Lane on Wednesday night in the pouring rain. The pricing was only visible at the entrance ticket machine - we decided $5 per 30 mins was too expensive. You can't back out safely so reluctantly we took a ticket, drove to the exit gate - a 15m drive - to be charged the $5! Daylight robbery I say."
All hail to caring bus driver
Janet Harris was walking her dogs on a hot and humid morning about 10am, when she saw an old lady with a walking frame in the middle of the street trying to hurry along. "She would stop every few metres and look over her shoulder, so I caught up with her, to ask if she was okay. 'The bus, I don't want to miss the bus,' she told me. And sure enough, the bus was coming, with at least 100m to the next bus stop. So I stepped into the road, and hailed the bus for her. The driver pulled in, got out of his seat, lifted the lady's walker, then helped the lady on to the bus and into a seat. The driver of the number 007 bus in Pt Chev that day captured the true spirit of the season."
