'Sunshine' sale spreads cheer

BAY SUN: The jar collecting some of the last rays of Mount Maunganui summer sunshine. PHOTO/ANGE COPSON

Among the usual mix of used dining tables, mattresses and decorative plates available on Trade Me a bizarre, yet sweet, item has popped up for sale.

A jar of Mount Maunganui sunshine is on auction, with a $1 reserve.

The seller from Dunedin put up the "little jar of gold in the form of 100 per cent pure Mount Maunganui sunshine" on Wednesday to make people smile and brighten their day.

Seller Ange Copson told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend she was just having a bit of a laugh.

"Autumn is kicking in so it's nice to have things out there that make people smile," she said.

Ms Copson, who was visiting Mount Maunganui for work for a couple of months, said she kept thinking how great the weather was up here and was talking with friends about how it was the sunny days she would miss most about being in Tauranga.

"Then I thought, why not take some home?"

She took a jar to Mount Main Beach to bottle up some of the last rays of summer sun.

"There were lots of people walking past asking 'what are you doing?' and when I told them they said 'what a great idea!'"

When she got home Ms Copson put it up for sale on Trademe, and intends to sell it to the highest bidder.

"It's a nice gift - a memory of summer," she said.

In the item's description seller Ms Copson bemoaned the end of summer and impending winter.

"As autumn presses its cool little fingers on the back of your neck, everyone could do with a little extra dose of sunshine and happiness.

"Particularly those of us down south," she wrote.

It said the sunshine was captured on a "stunning, blue-skied, sunny, warm, 28 degree February summer's day".

Or, in case of dire emergencies and severe winter blues, open the jar and take a breath. Close it quickly though, you don't want it all to escape.

Ange Copson

Ms Copson gave some helpful ideas on what to do upon buying the jar of sunshine, including "hug it" or "get a special backpack and carry it around with you".

"Sleep with it under a pillow (actually this might cause neck problems, so maybe just tuck it under the duvet). Stroke it for luck as you walk by. Sing it 'You are my sunshine' each morning in the shower - because it is.

"Let it guide and comfort you through the darkness of the cooler months.

"Or, in case of dire emergencies and severe winter blues, open the jar and take a breath. Close it quickly though, you don't want it all to escape.

"Together you and your sunshine will create a magical world where you are happier, taller, funnier, thinner and definitely in line for a pay rise."

There were no shipping costs and the jar would be "carefully bubble wrapped and delivered via the sunshine courier fairies to your door".

Yesterday afternoon the item had received more than 5100 views and bidding had reached $5.00.

The jar is sitting in Ms Copson's office at her home in Dunedin, waiting to be bought and couriered to the buyer - at her own cost.

Ange Copson, of Dunedin, seller of the jar of Mount Maunganui sunshine. Photo/Graham Copson