Reports out of New Zealand indicates that a determined goldfish named Nemo swept from a backyard pond swam for its life during a flood and survived, washed up away almost one mile away from the scene.

"He had been taken away by that horrible brown water, and there he was, about 2km away, swimming in the debris and happy as can be," farmer Ab Oskam, told the Otago Daily Times.

Oskam, who was walking his dog on Sunday, recognized it as one of three swept away from the pond of his neighbors, Julie and Craig Struthers, by a flash flood in the South Island town of Mosgiel five days earlier.

"We couldn't believe it, it was like a miracle, that such a delicate wee thing could survive the flood and all the rubbish caught in it," says Nemo's owners.