"My friend and I saw this garage near Musick Point the other day," writes Megan. "Terrifying. I can only imagine the horror at night, with the lights on, as the sinister maw slowly opens for its prey."
Asbestos attraction
It's considered the most contaminated asbestos site in the Southern Hemisphere
yet tourists just can't stay away from the abandoned mining town of Wittenoom, in Western Australia. Between 1930 and 1966 the population was around 20,000 people — most worked in the now abandoned nearby mines, extracting deadly asbestos every day. Today, it's a ghost town surrounded by large Danger signs. Even though asbestos mining ceased decades ago, Wittenoom is still surrounded by around three million tonnes of asbestos residue, enough to make the air there potentially deadly. The place is so dangerous that last year the Australian government decided to compulsorily acquire the properties of the last three people living in the area, just to get them to safety. And, yet, there are thousands of "extreme tourism" fans visiting Wittenoom every year and proudly posting photos of it on social media. (Oddity Central)
Southern welcome
Ngaire Young accompanied a new refugee family to Dunedin to do their shopping. In a letter to the Otago Daily Times she described how they were approached several times by people saying "Welcome to Dunedin, welcome to New Zealand". "This was heart-warming to the family and me," she writes. "When they approached the checkout, I was made aware we might not have enough money to pay for all the groceries in the trolley. I explained to the checkout operator and every item was carefully rechecked as to its true need ... As I assisted sorting the money out the checkout operator suddenly attracted my attention: 'It's all been paid by the man behind you.' Ngaire asked the young man behind them in the queue if it was true, that he'd paid for the groceries and he said yes. I thanked hm and hugged him as did the family. Both the mother of the family and I sat in my car with tears running down our cheeks. Small acts of kindness given can be huge to those who receive them."
