Sideswipe: June 29: Who didn't eat all the pies?

Sacrilege! This posse of abandoned pies was seen on a park bench in downtown Auckland, at the the top of Shortland St (near the Princes St corner) on Wednesday morning. Anyone solve the mystery?

Hands-free driving

Jenny writes: "We were driving south on the motorway across Newmarket flyover. Glanced right to the middle lane where there was this grey Peugeot. The driver was a woman in her 30s holding her cellphone in her right hand, below her mouth, talking away. All of which is bad enough. But the next minute she picks up her takeaway coffee with the other hand and starts drinking it. Driving hands-free, in the centre lane, going at least 80 km/h. Would have loved to have tooted, but was terrified of distracting her!"

Energy company's extra power

Peter would like to complain about invasive marketing: "I was at the park the other day when a pukeko emerged from the bush. I suddenly found myself singing. Boobooboo bedoodoo ba doobee doo. What the? I realised my brain had been infiltrated by some unscrupulous marketer. I consciously screen out all advertising but this little ditty had made it past my mental firewall. With a bit of research, I found the source of the incursion. Damn you Genesis Energy!"

Beginner's luck on treasure hunt

All Jason Hyatt expected to find when he took his 3-year-old son, James, out on his first metal detector expedition was a coin or an old can. But soon after getting started, the detector buzzed and the father-son duo, from Hockley in Essex, Great Britain, started digging. About 20cm under the surface, they found a gold locket with an image of the Virgin Mary clutching a cross. The pendant, known as a reliquary, dates back to the 16th century during the reign of Henry VIII. Experts say it may have even belonged to a member of the royal family at the time. Only three other reliquaries of this type are known to exist. Part of its $4 million sale price will be going to the owner of the property where it was discovered. (Source: Mental Floss.com)