Paul Castran – How his brother had a lucky escape in NZ

Pauls brother John has had a lucky escape after being buried under over 1m of snow in an avalanche in New Zealand over the weekend.  Johns son Angus is being hailed a hero after digging his dad out, after first locating him with a tracking becon.

Here is an extract from the Sydney Morning Herald Story:

AT FIRST the Melbourne multi-millionaire John Castran thought he had escaped the avalanche unscathed, unaware that metres away his Sydney skiing companion was dead.

Buried under more than 1.8 metres of snow on a New Zealand mountain range, Mr Castran, 53, could still move his arms and legs. But then the snow shifted and he was crushed.

Pinned beneath the overwhelming weight of what moments earlier had been featherweight powder snow, Mr Castran realised he did not have enough oxygen to yell for help.

The real estate agent survived the avalanche at Ragged Range, near Methven, west of Christchurch, yesterday, but a NSW businessman, 61, whose name has not been made public, was killed.

As Mr Castran ran out of air, he too thought he would perish under the ice. "You choke with the snow, you can’t breathe, you’re suffocating … it’s like being poured into plaster of Paris. The only thing I could move was my tongue, to push the snow away from in front of my mouth.

Here is a link to the full story: http://www.smh.com.au/world/avalanche-victim-shut-himself-down-to-survive-20090724-dw62.html

ACCC crackdown on real estate sector

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says the real estate industry has been put on notice.

An amendment to the Trade Practices Act is due to be further scrutinised by Federal Parliament next month.

It is proposing fines of more than $1 million for companies and up to $220,000 for individual agents that underquote, use dummy bidders at auctions and airbrush photos of properties.

By the looks of things, these changes will become law sometime next year.