Luxury bus stop at Portage Rd, New Lynn. Photo / Supplied
Lost at sea for 133 days
In November 1942, a British merchant ship, the Benlomond, left Cape Town, South Africa, on a voyage across the Atlantic to pick up cargo, but when the ship was 1200km off the South American coast, it was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sank.
The only survivor was a 24-year-old Chinese seaman named Poon Lim who'd jumped overboard. Struggling to the surface, Lim managed to find one of the ship's rafts. Even more miraculously, he located a tank of water and some cans of food in the floating wreckage. He improvised a fishing tackle to catch more food. Lim drifted for 133 days until he was rescued by Brazilian fishermen 16km off the coast. This is one of the longest survivals at sea. A local newspaper reported that Poon was badly sunburned and had lost 14kg, but otherwise was in good health, except for an upset stomach that doctors believed was the result of eating raw fish. (Via Sole Survivor: The True Account of 133 Days Adrift, by Ruthanne Lum McCunn).
Bad dates
1. "It was a blind date. We met up at a coffee shop close to our university. He was very high ... He just kept telling me I was as beautiful as the brick wall we were sitting next to, and that my skin looked soft enough to be made into a nice robe. The date lasted maximum 15 minutes."
2. "Started dating a girl with two kids (3 and 6 months, both girls). Both girls were adorable and really sweet. She couldn't afford a babysitter so our dates consisted of me going over to her place, hanging out and helping with the babies. Honestly it sounds terrible but wasn't that bad. One day she asks if I can babysit so she can run some errand. She said she'd be gone 30 minutes and the babies would be napping. Then we could have a date night kinda thing ... Well she ends up not coming back for four hours. During this time they both woke up. I got them changed, fed, dressed and entertained them ... Finally she comes back and admits that she met up with the kids' dad. She literally slept with the baby daddy while I was watching her kids."
