While this particular op shop find \u201cbrought to light the secret role of New Zealand defence staff who have supported and assisted Five Eyes preparation for a potential war with China\u201d it also raised another equally important question: what the hell else might be lurking out there? I used my Two Eyes to go hunting for more of the wildest op shop finds that have made headlines in Aotearoa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bleak mayoral desk documents (Wellington Southern Landfill Tip Shop, Wellington)\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s clearly been a huge year for humble thrifters stumbling upon highly sensitive information. Just a week before Newsroom published their scoop on the Sallies Five Eyes notes, NZ Herald revealed that over a decade of Wellington Council\u2019s \u201cdirty laundry\u201d was passed onto a member of the public when he bought an old desk for $200 from the tip shop<\/a>. The raft of documents found by builder Raymond Morgan date from the 1980s-2000s and include sexual harassment allegations, porn use, and personal grievance claims. The privacy breach is now being investigated by council. \u201cI just find it absolutely amazing that they would not check to see what was in locked cupboards and drawers,\u201d said Morgan.\u00a0<\/p>\n In May 2020, not long after the country\u2019s lockdown restrictions had been lifted to level two, the St John New Plymouth hopped on Facebook with an urgent reminder<\/a>. Not about masking or hand-washing, but concerning a suspected case of squashed ganja in the community. \u201cJust another wee reminder to check your purses, bags, pockets and books before bringing them in,\u201d the post reads. \u201cSomeone forgot to remove their pressed flowers from the NZ Gardening A to Z before donating.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Rare Russell Clark paintings (Unnamed mystery shop, Hawke\u2019s Bay)<\/p>\n Hastings retiree Morgan Rainsford hit the jackpot when his favourite unnamed Hawke\u2019s Bay op shop delivered two genuine Russell Clark paintings<\/a> for just $5 in 2024. A notable local artist in the early and mid 20th century, Clark taught a young Colin McCahon before being commissioned to paint several significant public murals in the 1930s, eventually taking up a longstanding position as the principal illustrator for the New Zealand School Journal in the 1940s, and becoming a renowned sculptor in the 1950s. With the paintings worth between $1500-2500 each, Rainsford told The Post he would sell them to pay for a trip to see his family. \u201cIt would also be helpful to get some stuff for my knee,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got a very bad knee.\u201d<\/p>\n Victorian-era vibrator (Nelson Environment Centre Reuse Shop, Nelson)<\/p>\n There was a huge buzz at the Nelson Environment Centre in 2023 when an extremely curious item was dropped off with a large donation of old medical equipment. \u201cOur first thoughts were it may be a portable blood pump, because of its oscillating end,\u201d Nelson Environment Centre chief executive Anton Drazevic told RNZ<\/a>. A little bit of research revealed that it was in fact a Victorian-era vibrator, touted at the time as a device that was able to cure female \u201chysteria<\/a>\u201d. Drazevic planned on approaching Te Papa with the find. \u201cI would hope a piece like this would stay here, it found its way to New Zealand so I think we should keep it,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Intriguing war relic (Hospice Green Shed Shop, Kerikeri)<\/p>\n Hospice Shop volunteer Leigh Rockell immediately alerted local historians when this framed World War Two relic came into the shop<\/a> in 2024. According to the NZ Herald, the keepsake commemorates the involvement of New Zealand troops during a conflict on the island of Vella Lavella during World War II. With various ephemera behind glass including identification plates and paperwork taken from a Japanese vessel, the piece is now in the National Army Museum at Waiouru. \u201cYou can\u2019t really put a dollar value on an artefact like this, and that its true worth lies in its heritage value,\u201d Heritage New Zealand\u2019s Bill Edwards said at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lost heirloom rings inside clock (Red Cross Shop, \u014crewa)<\/p>\n \u014crewa Red Cross general manager Maryanne Sikora made an extraordinary discovery when she opened up a \u201ccheap, plastic clock\u201d reported Stuff last year<\/a>. The clock had been sitting there for several weeks when a customer asked if the batteries were working. Sikora popped the back off the clock, and discovered a ring box containing a glittering wedding band and engagement ring. \u201cI realised that they were valuable rings, white gold and diamonds. So I took them down to the police station,\u201d she said. They were eventually returned to the family, who had been looking for the rings since their mother\u2019s death the year prior.\u00a0<\/p>\n (NB: these are not the only precious stones found in a local op shop before \u2013 \u014ctautahi thrifter Spice Kotiro once told NZ Herald she found diamond and sapphire rings<\/a> for $5 each.)<\/p>\n $4000 cash between bedsheets (Habitat ReStore, Nelson)<\/p>\n This cracking yarn from Stuff<\/a> opens with a stormer of a scene: a volunteer in the linen department left \u201cas white a sheet\u201d upon discovering a money bag containing nearly $4000 in cash stashed between some, well, sheets. Nelson ReStore manager Rebekah Wyatt told Stuff that the cash was handed over to police where it stayed for a few weeks, until a woman rang the store asking if they had found anything interesting in her donation. \u201cHer husband had been hiding money and not telling her,\u201d Wyatt said. \u201cWe get that quite a lot.\u201d Need an eight-part true crime podcast on the husband money sheets immediately please.\u00a0<\/p>\n Treasured wedding items (St Margaret\u2019s Presbyterian Op Shop, Belmont)<\/p>\n After getting married in Derbyshire in 2021 and shipping a big package of precious wedding mementos home to Auckland\u2019s North Shore, Danni and Tyler Barnes were left bamboozled when NZ Post claimed it had been delivered to their home address<\/a>, despite it not arriving. As reported by Stuff, they went doorknocking around the neighbourhood until a local \u201cgentleman\u201d informed them that he had been delivered the goods and since donated them to an op shop \u2013 but he couldn\u2019t remember where or when. \u201cWe were absolutely dumbfounded,\u201d said Tyler. She eventually found at least three of her wedding belongings at the St Margaret\u2019s Presbyterian Op Shop in Belmont, including a dress, a scarf and a jigsaw puzzle depicting their engagement. \u201cWho on earth is going to want to buy that?\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Watch of a fallen soldier (Opawa Community Op Shop, Christchurch)<\/p>\nPressed\u2026 flowers\u2026 (Image: St John\u2019s Facebook)
\nPressed cannabis leaves (St John Op Shop, New Plymouth)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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