By Jane Luscombe
People weren't the only ones taken by surprise by the torrential rain today.
Workers in South Auckland received a confused animal visitor.
Looking lost and not too impressed with life on land, the creature had time to regret its rash race from the sea.
As the rain lashed down, the small brown mammal, thought to be a fur seal, loomed out of the spray, looking for a safe port in the storm.
The small animal made its way from the harbour 200m away, across a reserve, a road and a car park before entering a building.
When the staff nipped out to take photos, it scampered through an automatic door and made itself at home.
“Apart from growling at me when I moved the chair, he's been quiet," says Miller Design project manager Neil Fieldsend. "He's been behaving. He looks rather timid there, but he's got a bark and he can certainly chase.”
Mr Fieldsend shepherded it into a small room and then hit the phones.
“[We have rung] Auckland Zoo, Department of Conservation, Kelly Tarlton's, Auckland University, and [we're] struggling to get someone over here at the moment,” he says.
The Department of Conservation was busy with reports of another confused sea lion in Devonport, leaving this one to await its rescue.
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