Sideswipe: June 20: Fishy business in China

A mass of sea creatures rained down on the Chinese city of Qingdao during a storm last week. Mysterious Universe reports: "The phenomenon of "fish rain" or "animal rain" is a rare, but very real, weather phenomenon which has been documented for centuries. Reports of thousands of falling fish, frogs, and other animals that have no business in the sky have occurred since the Roman empire ... Waterspouts sucking animals out of the sea has never been directly observed but this explanation certainly makes sense for Qingdao, China. It's a coastal city, and this fish rain was accompanied by a large and powerful storm system."

Left-foot shoes left in shrubbery

On Thursday morning while out walking, Lois found what appeared to be a new pair of expensive looking black suede evening shoes, thrown in the agapanthus bushes. "I took them home and on closer examination found that not only were they two different sizes they were both left feet. How strange. If anyone with different-size left feet has lost these, I still have them!"

What kids did back then

"In 1958 I was 4 years old and attending Myers Kindergarten when the family moved to Te Papapa," writes a reader. "My father worked in Ponsonby Rd, and each afternoon my father would collect me from Myers Park, drive me to the Symonds St bus stop and put me on the bus home with a little bag of sweets for the journey. Once the bus reached the Te Papapa bus depot 9km away, then I would get off and walk home alone."

... and there's more

"In the early 50s, our family were living in Tonga and, as a 12-year-old, I was sent back to New Zealand to go to boarding school. I was put on a ship in Nukualofa which proceeded to Pago Pago, then Apia, then Suva and finally docked in Christchurch," writes Peter Crane. "I had to find my way to the Christchurch-to-Wellington overnight ferry and was picked up in Wellington by an auntie, stayed a few days and then put on to the overnight train to Auckland. I was picked up by another auntie, again staying a few days, and was finally delivered to Wesley College to start the school year. It was an exciting trip."

... and more

Bill writes: I thought you might like to hear about my mother. Born in 1911, she came to New Zealand by ship with her family when she was 12. She recalls getting into serious trouble when she and a friend were found sitting on the anchor, having climbed down the anchor chain!"

Possum caught in the bullbar