Who's the fool? Pranks aplenty for April Fool's Day 2018

Eden Park grazing sheep, the school that bought a plane, the ''Trump Fish'', or Dunedin's re-naming of a street to Ed Sheeran Ave.

Once again there was plenty of creativity for April Fool's Day to garner a laugh or two.

Plenty of April Fool's Day jokes have popped up around the world, and a couple of celebrities even got in on the action.

But whose jokes are the best?

Ekant Veer, a University of Canterbury associate professor in marketing and April Fool's Day connoisseur says the best April Fool's Day jokes have an emphasis on harmless fun.

"The best ones are the ones that cause very little harm," he said.

Retail NZ went left (or right) field by launching a campaign to start driving on the right-hand side of the road, a subtle dig at councils having power to decide which shops can open on a Sunday.

General manager Greg Harford said local councils should be able to choose which side of the road they drive on as "we drive on the left purely by historical accident".

"There are communities in New Zealand that may want to explore a change.

"Akaroa, for example, might want to express its French heritage by driving on the right; and it may simply be more convenient for areas with, say, a large American or Chinese population to drive on the right, reflecting the practice of people's home countries."

He admitted there would be "naysayers" who would think having 67 different road codes would cause chaos.

Nayland College pupils would now travel in style, the school announced today, after purchasing this plane from Virgin Airlines. Photo/Nayland College

"However, the Government thinks this model works for Easter Sunday trading and alcohol licensing, so there's no good reason that it wouldn't work in transport and other areas."

In Nelson, Nayland College said it had just bought a 68-seat French-built ATR 72-500 plane from Virgin Airlines.

Principal Daniel Wilson said the purchase "just makes sense".

"With so many school classes, groups and teams becoming successful in a vast range of academic, arts and sports pursuits, the purchase of the aircraft will reduce the pressure on students who are currently having to endure long bus journeys and expensive commercial airline fares to reach their destinations," he explained.

As for cost, Wilson said although it was significant he was confident that "with regular sausage sizzles and bake sales we can minimise the obvious impact this purchase will have on our ability to purchase core classroom resources."

Meanwhile, the National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier dubbed the arrival of a rare type of sea dragon "Trump Fish" because of its bright orange appearance and many finger-like appendages.

The lambs appear to be excited about their new temporary home at Eden Park. Photo/Brett Phibbs

Aquarium acting manager Kerry Hewitt said he had never seen such an unusual specimen.

"We'll be keeping it well away from our Mexican Walking Fish. We are also aware that this type of sea dragon has a particularly unusual mating dance and will try to mate with pretty much anything, so we've been keeping it separated from our native species."

Ed Sheeran-mania is still alive in the deep south with the ODT reporting Dunedin City Council mulling a proposal to change Anzac Ave to Ed Sheeran Ave.

Asked if it was appropriate to rename Anzac Ave, a spokesman said it was "fine" and they could just rename another street after the Anzacs.

Among other options that were considered to permanently mark the Sheeran visit were painting Forsyth Barr Stadium orange, renaming a suburb after him and creating an annual holiday.

The Herald today revealed 10,000 lambs would fatten themselves up for export on the premium grass at Eden Park. Photo/Brett Phibbs

And last, but by no means least, was the Herald's announcement today of Eden Park as the new home for 10,000 Perendale lambs.

Newly appointed Eden Park Trust chief executive Nick Sautner was excited about the Baa-Baas new home turf.

"We do have the Baa-Baas [invitational rugby team] here at Eden Park, so we think there's nice synergies in that regard."

It seems the Herald was able to pull the wool over a couple of followers on its Facebook page, but most took the story in their stride.

One commented, "Stop ramming April fools down our throats, unless it's been slow roasted and covered in mint sauce", while another said "That will be good for championsheep matches".

Many also couldn't help but take a stab at the Blues, suggesting the flock should be given their jerseys and sent on the field at their next game.

Civil Defence Waikato turned up the heat with its joke, stating it had discovered a metal that changed appearance according to atmospheric conditions.

"During a low when thunderstorms pass over for example, the metal's surface gets excited," lead scientist and oddly appropriately-named Heather Rockgirl wrote on its Facebook page.