“’When I first glimpsed over I thought it was a dog. I looked back again and was like ‘oh my god that’s a seal, what is going on?’ she said. ‘Everyone was pretty shocked.’

“The seal went into the toilet, then ran out and hid under the pub’s glass dishwasher. Staff turned it off to ensure the cute intruder didn’t get burnt. ‘One of our customers got a dog crate, and we lured it into the crate with salmon, then DOC showed up,’ Evans said. Department of Conservation (DOC) principal biodiversity ranger Helen Otley told The Nelson Mail multiple calls on Sunday had alerted them to a young New Zealand fur seal/kekeno which had been seen on land in the Berryfields area.” (Source: “‘Oh my god that’s a seal’: Tasman pub gets a furry patron,” by Karanama Ruru, December 2, www.stuff.co.nz).

All’s well that ends well however, as the seal pup was released on nearby Rabbit Island.

5 stars – always great to be happily surprised, no matter where you are, and even better that this has a happy ending too. Total upside!

Record breaking team

For the past 17 years, Movember has raised money for charities associated with men’s health – suicide prevention, metal health in general, and prostate checks. November is the month where moustaches are in season more than any time of the year, all for a great cause. This year a team has smashed the record for raising money, by a large margin.

“Michael McRae, who is part of the record breaking team that raised $145,000 for Movember – smashing the previous national record of $85,056. McRae is one of the two Kiwi founders of Two Dudes who make men’s skincare. They joined forces with Australian active wear company LSKD. Their mission was to break the record, be part of men’s health history and help raise more than ever for men’s health.”

“‘It’s great stuff,’ [Movember NZ’s country manager Robert Dunne] said. ‘We have this amazing community that just goes off and, and does things all in support of men’s health, whether it be in their own communities or workplaces or their families. They’re actually just out there living and breathing it.’

“He said LSKD NZ and Two Dudes set out with the idea of trying to raise $100,000, which would have been the charity’s highest fundraising team, ‘but they smashed it, they blew that away, and they’re easily, our highest fundraising team, by a country mile in any capacity, individual, team, corporate, commercial, they just smoked it.'” (Source: “The astonishing six-figure sum this team raised for Movember,” by Caron Copek, December 2, www.stuff.co.nz).

5 stars – what an amazing effort for a number of fantastic causes!

World’s costliest egg

For those with lots and lots and lots of money, Fabergé eggs are very desirable items indeed and very soon one of the rarest and most expensive of them all will be up for auction. This is one of 50 eggs known as the Fabergé Imperial eggs – produced for Russian tsars between 1885 and 1916 as Easter gifts. Most are in museums throughout the world with a few in private collections.

“Now, for the first time in over two decades, one is up for auction. And the eggs’ scarcity is, partly, why auction house Christie’s estimates that 1913’s Winter Egg will fetch “in excess of” £20 million in London next month. Should this price be realized, the 112-year-old curio would not only set an auction record for a Fabergé egg — it would obliterate the one the Winter Egg itself set in 2002.

“Supply and demand aside, Christie’s believes its astronomical estimate reflects the object’s unique artistic qualities. Made from a block of clear quartz, the egg looks as if it has been carved from ice and dusted with frost. Engraved snowflakes sparkle with rose-cut diamonds; platinum trickles down the base as if it were thawing in spring sunshine.

“‘It’s like holding a lump of ice in your hand,’ said McCarthy [Fabergé expert], who has previously handled the Winter Egg. ‘It’s like alchemy in reverse, turning precious materials into a moment of nature.'” (Source: “‘Greatest of them all’: Fabergé’s Winter Egg is poised to smash auction records,” by Oscar Holland, November 28, www.edition.cnn.com).

5 stars – while I myself won’t be in the bidding, they are very beautiful objects with storied pasts.