The Mair Park Ghost
Bizarre events rarely happen in Whangarei, so when stories started circulating that a ghost was being sighted at Mair Park, my mum, dad and their friends did what any normal, sane kiwi would do… they attempted to catch it.
They drove to the park, turned the car engine and headlights off, and waited in the almost pitch-black darkness (with the doors locked of course). Sure enough, it wasn’t too long before the ghostly figure emmerged and ‘glided’ slowly closer to the car. My parents describe the ghost as being almost 7 foot, all white, who moved in a very frightening manner. As they watched, literally scared-stiff, my dad’s two mates started chasing it into the dark, dense bush (I would have run the other way myself). After several minutes, they returned, terrified, saying that the ghost seemed to float down the track, made no sound while doing so, and then simply disappeared.
I kid you not… this is a true story. I even have the newspaper clippings.
In the days that followed, more people sighted and were equally disturbed by the ghost. Other attempts were made to catch it, but all failed. More bizarre events happened… a grotesque mannequin was found hanging by a noose from a tree in the park, and the ghost was seen peering into the windows of some of the houses close to the park late at night.
Was the mystery of the Mair Park Ghost ever solved? Well, that depends on who you talk to. My dad says that the ghost simply stopped being sighted, probably because people started to enter the park at night with guns intending to shoot it.
I was talking to another person recently, who remembers the events. He thought that a local rugby team entered the park one night and caught the ghost, who was in fact, a very athletic man wearing a very convincing costume. This man knew the layout of the park so well that he knew where to run and hide in the darkness, giving the appearance of disappearing into thin air.
I like my dad’s story of ‘men with guns hunting the ghost’ better.
So, almost fifty years on, I wonder if you were to venture into the park late at night… would the ghost be there… watching you from the bushes?
I dare you to find out.
Six severed feet
I heard a stange thing on the radio this morning while driving around town. I’ve just done some Googling, and it appears something very bizarre has indeed been happening on a stretch of Canadian coastline recently.
Last August, two human feet washed up on the beaches of small islands off Vancouver. In February a third single, right foot drifted ashore. The fourth foot was discovered on a beach in suburban Vancouver in May. On Monday, a left foot was found on another island off Vancouver. The latest find was on Wednesday when a woman collecting rocks spotted a shoe-clad foot on a beach. “I could see two white bones sticking out of a black sneaker,” Sandra Malone told the local newspaper. “It was definitely severed, like it had been sawn off…”
Your guess is as good as mine as to what or who is behind this mystery. People are surmising that perhaps the Asian Tsumani was the cause. Some are even suggesting it is a sick prank by medical students.
My theory is as follows…
Monster Wasps!
In a recent post of Paisley Jade’s she commented about her husband’s (that’s me) over-exuberance when using flyspray on wasps. Yes, I admit I have a slight dislike (understatement of the year) for wasps… Do you blame me? Being chased and stung by angry paper-wasps as a kid, and then having a stinging wasp trapped in my wetsuit!
I came across this photo yesterday, and although it looks like something out of a bad 70′s horror flick, it is very real… and very nasty.
You call that a knife? This is a knife!
- 2.5″ 60% Serrated locking blade
- Nail file, nail cleaner
- Corkscrew
- Adjustable pliers with wire crimper and cutter
- Removable screwdriver bit adapter
- 2.5″ Blade for Official World Scout Knife
- Spring-loaded, locking needle-nose pliers with wire cutter
- Removable screwdriver bit holder
- Phillips head screwdriver bit 0
- Phillips head screwdriver bit 1
- Phillips head screwdriver bit 2
- Flat head screwdriver bit 0.5mm x 3.5mm
- Flat head screwdriver bit 0.6mm x 4.0mm
- Flat head screwdriver bit 1.0mm x 6.5mm
- Magnetized recessed bit holder
- Double-cut wood saw with ruler (inch & cm)
- Bike chain rivet setter, removable 5mm allen wrench, screwdriver for slotted and philips head screws
- Removable tool for adjusting bike spokes, 10mm hexagonal key for nuts
- Removable 4mm curved allen wrench with philips head screwdriver
- Removable 10mm hexagonal key
- Patented locking philips head screwdriverUniversal wrench
- 2.4″ Springless scissors with serrated, self-sharpening design
- 1.65″ Clip point utility blade
- Philips head screwdriver
- 2.5″ Clip point blade
- Golf club face cleaner
- 2.4″ Round tip blade
- Patented locking screwdriver, cap lifter, can opener
- Golf shoe spike wrench
- Golf divot repair tool
- 4mm allen wrench2.5″ blade
- Fine metal file with precision screwdriver
- Double-cut wood saw
- Cupped cigar cutter with double-honed edges
- 12/20-Guage choke tube tool
- Watch caseback opening tool
- Snap shackle
- Mineral crystal magnifier with precision screwdriver
- Compass, straight edge, ruler (in./cm)
- Telescopic pointer
- Fish scaler, hook disgorger, line guide
- Shortix laboratory key
- Micro tool holder
- Micro tool adapter
- Micro scraper – straight
- Micro scraper – curved
- Laser pointer with 300 ft. range
- Metal saw, metal file
- Flashlight
- Micro tool holder
- Philips head screwdriver 1.5mm
- Screwdriver 1.2mm
- Screwdriver .8mm
- Fine fork for watch spring bars
- Reamer
- Pin punch 1.2mm
- Pin punch .8mm
- Round needle file
- Removable tool holder with expandable receptacle
- Removable tool holder
- Special self-centering screwdriver for gunsights
- Flat philips head screwdriver
- Chisel-point reamerMineral crystal magnifier, fork for watch spring bars, small ruler
- Extension tool
- Spring-loaded, locking flat nose-nose pliers with wire cutter
- Removable screwdriver bit holder
- Phillips head screwdriver bit 0
- Phillips head screwdriver bit 1
- Phillips head screwdriver bit 2
- Flat head screwdriver bit 0.5mm x 3.5mm
- Flat head screwdriver bit 0.6mm x 4.0mm
- Flat head screwdriver bit 1.0mm x 6.5mm
- Magnetized recessed bit holder
- Tire tread gauge
- Fiber optic tool holder
- Can opener
- Patented locking screwdriver, cap lifter, wire stripper
- Reamer/awl
- Toothpick
- Tweezers
- Key ring
Okay. Someone’s has to say it so it may as well be me.
Doesn’t this monstrosity defeat the purpose of the ‘pocket knife’ just a little bit? I mean, how big would your pocket have to be to fit one of these in? They should really call it… A swiss army briefcase knife. How long would it take to find the tool you need anyway? Probably an hour, and if you were MacGyver, you would be dead by then!
I think will stick with my trusty huntsman… after all, “What would Macgyver do?”
After 23 years I got one!
So, one of these days I may go ‘United Video’ and rent out a season of Mac, and introduce my sons to classic clean TV (with my Huntsman in my pocket of course).
Giant boulder booby traps!
Apparently in the 1930′s, workers from the United Fruit Company, while clearing land in the Diquis Valley of Costa Rica, began unearthing large numbers of almost perfectly round stone spheres. The largest of these apparently man-made balls is over six feet in diameter and weighs over sixteen tons. No one knows exactly when or how they were made, or by whom, or for what reason. Today, virtually all of the spheres have been taken from their original locations. Many are now prized lawn ornaments across Costa Rica.
Could the original purpose of these boulders have been for elaborate booby traps to squash graverobbers? We may never know, but I kind of like to hope so!
