New Zealand man auctions off 30-tonne rock that dropped in through the roof of his home
New Zealand man auctions off 30-tonne rock that dropped in through the roof of his home
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"Rocky" crashed through Phil Johnson's Morgans Valley house in Heathcoate after dislodging during last Tuesday's devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake.
A friend of Phil Johnson with 'Rocky', which has been unmoved since the earthquake last week.
Now, the boulder, still firmly wedged in Johnson's house, has been listed on the online auction website, Trade Me.
"For sale 1 owner 25 - 30 tonne landscape feature (answers to the name Rocky)," the listing, by phil.johnson, begins.
"He is in pristine condition (just a little bit of concrete dust). Suitable for garden feature, or as in our case a magnificent addition to your living area.
Rocky will enhance your indoor-outdoor flow considerably, especially if you load him in through the garage roof like we did."
The auction has hit $5,200, (Rs 2.33 lakh) after 56 bids and attracted a wealth of comments.
"My three-year-old little princess has nearly worn out her pet rock. Could you please advise an estimated shipping cost to Auckland?" techguy2 posted.
"OMG his pink batts are showing," over.rated added, while krystlehart asked if "Rocky's papa was a rollin" stone?".
The successful bidder of the auction will get a personalised photo with Rocky, once the cordons lift, and all proceeds will go the Christchurch Earthquake Relief Fund, Johnson added.
Trade Me spokesman Paul Ford said a number of people have been going onto the Christchurch earthquake section of the site to offer and seek accommodation, advertise lost and found pets and even offer space to business owners who could not access their workshops.
Between Wednesday, when the section was built, and Sunday, there had been about 1,60,000 people visit the site - generating about 1.5 million page views, he said.
"It's unprecedented, really. It's the first time we've done something like this, building a page within 24 hours of a disaster happening."
He added, "It's just heart-warming to see people are using it and finding it useful." Ford said about 6,000 items had been listed since the section was built.
Rs 2.33 lakh
Amount hit for the auction of Rocky, the 30-tonne rock
Red and Black day
New Zealanders are being urged to wear the red and black colours of Canterbury today to show support for the people of Christchurch. Everyone wearing red and black tomorrow is also being urged to make a donation to the New Zealand Red Cross 2011 Earthquake Appeal.
161
Number of people who died in the earthquake
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