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About six months ago, Fiona Baker from Baker’s Shoes and More was wondering how her plans to bring to Waiuku the latest styles from Europe would be tempered by the looming pandemic that was COVID-19. Committed to making sure that her shop stocks only the very best in both style and comfort, Fiona knew that there would be new challenges to face as lockdowns and closures both…

You don’t need to know a tea rose from a rhizome, to enjoy the Franklin Hospice Garden Ramble. Created and managed by two local women as a fund raiser for Franklin Hospice (more than $200,000 raised since 2012), people flocked to the picture-perfect gardens on show. Last year, Kaye and Steph decided to take a well-earned break and step back, generously gifting their shared…

Over the following 8 months we weaved our way down the longest road in the world, the Pan-American Highway. It stretches from Deadhorse to Ushuaia, Argentina. We crossed the world's most dangerous road in Bolivia, witnessed civil uprisings in Nicaragua, and minefields crossing the Atacama Desert. Landscapes changed as much as the climate. We experienced temperatures fluctuating…

I have been inspired by the lives of Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Kate Sheppard, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela. At the heart of their lives was a passion to make attractive communities. They are the champions of a compassionate and a free society that we enjoy today. A greater freedom from discrimination, oppression, and poverty. The picture they paint…

It’s been a highly unusual year with many of us spending an increased amount of time at home and in our gardens. For some this has been a godsend as it has allowed us to catch up on house and garden jobs and commence on long overdue projects. Fast forward to October and it feels like spring has well and truly arrived! Blossoms are out and the lush green buds are starting to…

This year has been quite frankly one out of a box of nightmares. Most New Zealanders have been dealt financial disasters large and small, with no apparent end yet in sight. Trips planned then discarded, special celebrations and family bereavements. A decided lack of enthusiasm to fly, if you could, anywhere in the world. A new word with a chilling name Covid 19 became something…

At the turn of the twentieth century, life was very different from what it is today, and children’s toys were no exception. Morris Mitchum produced the original Teddy Bear, and cousins Binney and Smith began manufacturing an eight pack of crayons under the brand ‘Crayola’. The box sold for a nickel and contained black, brown, blue, red, violet, orange, yellow, and green. The…

As I write, there’s one month to go. Everybody will have their own views about what problems the next Government should try to solve, but for me six issues should be priorities. First, and most obviously, is the need to guide New Zealand back to a path of low unemployment and low government debt after the disastrous consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic – the inevitable effects…

Whether you need your swimming pool filled up, you have moved into a new house and have to fill the tank afresh or are making plans for a top up before everyone else needs it, make sure you call the Alexander’s at Water Wizard for all your water needs first. Based in Tuakau, locals Dave and Elaine Alexander specialise in efficient and professional water deliveries both locally…

Recognized for many different reasons; a diarist, poet, and punk rock musician, he was part of New York’s post punk and beatnik scene in the 1970’s and 1980’s and had lived a harrowing existence of drug addiction and prostitution in his younger years famously chronicled in his best known novels, the gritty autobiographical, The Basketball Diaries and it’s follow up, Forced…

DC fast charging technology for 34 buses at depots in Christchurch and Auckland with an overall power capacity of around 3.7 Megawatt Flexible charging systems to easily expand the infrastructure and adapt to future battery voltage levels of up to 1,000 Volt Integration with one of the world’s major bus suppliers Yutong Siemens Smart Infrastructure received an order from Go Bus,…

Part 1 of the Titford story set the scene for one of New Zealand’s worst cases of human rights violation. Allan Titford lost his land, two houses were burnt to the ground, animals slaughtered and a barrage of abuse engulfed Allan Titford and his family, which left Alan Titford destitute. In this edition you will see first hand the behind the scenes corruption that ultimately led…

ClearSky Accounting is new to Pukekohe, with a new, up-to-date business model and a new name to identify where we want to go in the future. Our parent company has operated in the South Auckland region since 1993. We and the majority of our staff and executives live in Pukekohe so in this sense we are not new to Pukekohe. My husband and I owned a farm in Bombay area for a number…

A month on from the re-emergence of Covid 19 in New Zealand, property prices are showing resilience to the current economic and social restrictions. The market has suffered a delay in the number of properties coming to the market as a result of these restrictions. Meaning that the supply will be constrained as we roll into the traditionally higher listing period of spring and…

A recent article in the NY Times caught my attention, it described a “troubling surge in Homicides” following Covid-19 Lockdowns.[^1] I was immediately reminded of a similar article in the NZ Herald following our L4 Lockdown that was referred to as “Murderous May”.[^2] Both articles described in detail how violent crime had risen dramatically following the restrictions, and…

Art Mural Trail in Papakura We are so lucky to now have 16 walls and empty spaces that have been painted with beautiful and amazing murals in and around the town. Talented artists who have used their talent to decorate, beautify and paint murals around the town. Want to check out all the murals that the town has? Go to https://papakura.co.nz/art-trail-map-papakura/ to view all…

When local foodie Suzanne Braks took over the running of both the Bombay and Papakura Autobahn restaurants on April 1st earlier this year, she could never have foreseen the snowball of events that a global pandemic would have on the business over the next month or two. Managing the businesses for many years, she took over to a business that was essentially unable to trade under a…

Auckland has just come out of another lockdown that has seen businesses closed, a return to bubbles and borders patrolled in a way that created a situation for some, more challenging than the level 4 lockdown. And, yet the numbers of community transmission remain higher than they were when we returned to the new normal early in the year. For the government, this is a huge risk…

There’s an increasing divide between how Covid-19 related news and information is being reported by governments, health authorities and the mainstream media on one hand, and alternative media and independent expert commentators on the other. This is particularly the case on matters of science. The resultant public uncertainty is fuelling ever more polarised public viewpoints in…

Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 12.2 percent in the June 2020 quarter, the largest quarterly fall recorded since the current series began in 1987, as the COVID-19 restrictions in place through the quarter impacted economic activity, Stats NZ said today. “The 12.2 percent fall in quarterly GDP is by far the largest on record in New Zealand,” national accounts senior manager…