Yesterday morning, the first business day of the month, bookings opened at 8am for camping in Auckland Council parks in February (six months hence). A Westmere reader, who camps at Tawharanui each year, rang at two seconds past 8; waited 49 minutes tobe answered; successfully completed a booking (with a very nice human being); was transferred to an automated line to punch in the credit card details; was told (robotically) the transaction had been approved; and pressed 1 as instructed to return to the booking line. After a further 12 minutes, a very nice chap came back on the line to say it was all confirmed. That's one hour, one minute and three seconds to book a week's camping. He wonders whether someone should introduce the council to the internet and the concept of online booking.
Sarah told her gamer son to go play outside for a change. He did and posted proof to Facebook.
Walking fish heads
Scientists from Australia's James Cook University have told reporters they have spotted an aggressive fish that can walk on land making its way towards the country from Papua New Guinea. The native freshwater "climbing perch" can live out of water for days and has survived short saltwater treks from PNG towards Queensland.
"A few years ago the plane I was travelling in from Perth stopped at Brisbane and a group of schoolboys coming home from a rugby trip boarded," writes Anne Martin of Helensville. "One was the size of a sumo wrestler and I wondered which unfortunate passenger he'd be sat next to. The answer was ... me! It was a bit of a squeeze but what a delightful lad. We chatted about his games and people he'd met and when we approached the airport he pointed out the features of South Auckland where he lived. It was worth losing a bit of my space."
Twitter goodness
Email alerts from NZ Post
Phil Parker may be interested to know that NZ Post has recently begun a free email, rather than text, service that achieves what he suggests, says David Kaio. "It works perfectly for me so far as I am receiving significantly less addressed mail now than when the PO Box was first set up."
