You know how much I love free things. Who can resist a giveaway, even if the item in question is completely useless or impractical?

But this, ah, we’re onto a winner.

Good ol’ Air New Zealand is offering you the chance to win flights to Australia in a gimmicky, yet oddly enticing, way. The deal is this: just send a message online to a friend in Australia (an expat Kiwi, of course) and it’ll be displayed on a billboard outside Customs House in Sydney. Just by sending this message to a mate, you’ll go into the draw for a return flight to Aussie (and so will your friend). The gallery of sent messages also makes for good voyeuristic viewing (as well as the usual ‘I luv you, will you marry me?’s, there are comedians out there writing gems like this one: Hey man, remember the time we ate a whole pair of jeans? Come home so we can do it again!).

Remember, NZS.com lists heaps of other sites where you can enter competitions and snaffle free stuff for yourself. And if you don’t fancy your chances of winning, why not book a flight to Australia to escape these far-from-tropical wintry days?