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In early October, this year at the Trusts Arena in Auckland, the National Gymnastics Championships will once again bring talented children from all over New Zealand to participate and compete over 5 days. It really is the BIG event in the gymnastics calendar and involves Artistic, Rhythmic, Trampoline, Tumble & Aerobic disciplines. Franklin Gymsports have 9 children that have…

Four guys from New Zealand recently did a whirlwind trip to the USA in August for the 50th NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky. Leaving cooler temperatures behind in New Zealand’s winter, the group was blessed with temperatures in the 30 degree range as they touched down in Chicago before heading to Louisville. The 50th anniversary of the National Street Rod…

Quite often we get asked if we are able to do certain work such as hedge trimming or fruit tree and shrub pruning, the answer is yes! At Tree Magic Arborists have a wide range of different skills and services we offer within our company. Whatever the job may entail, from trimming rose bushes in your flower garden or tidying up a Wisteria vine growing over a pergola .. we have…

HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL THE DADS OUT THERE FOR SUNDAY 1ST OF SEPTEMBER! Celebrating Fashion Week in Papakura We did a bit of a shout out and asked designers if they would like to dress a mannequin to celebrate Fashion week. We have got some lovely designs in the shop window next door to The Corner in O’Shannessey Street done by three fabulous designer. Make sure you have a…

Grafton Downs Executive Director, Chris Johnston is excited to see families moving into their newly built homes, with 75% of stage 1 already sold out. Paerata Rise is a new build lifestyle community being developed between Karaka and Pukekohe, approximately 40 minutes from Central Auckland. Paerata Rise will be a stylish new town that combines the best features of the local…

Can you believe it’s August already? Only four month’s and we are back into the silly season again. At the time of writing there is so much interesting material that mainstream press is not covering but commenting on, opinions on opinions, but where are the facts and the questions? Is it not the job of media to provide the counterbalance for the people for the voters? Isn’t it…

Most of our readers are too young to remember the great airships that sailed, ever so majestically, across the Atlantic between Europe and the Americas. Those fortunate enough to do so, remember them as a sight never to be forgotten. Probably the best remembered, not only for her tragic end at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937, but also for her size and grace, was the…

Football has long been a poor cousin next to Rugby in New Zealand and Football in South Auckland; (although being the fastest growing sport in our area) has long been at the mercy of the more central Auckland clubs who glean the best players through a process of size, resource and overall performance at both age group and national level. The local establishment of Franklin United…

In May 1768, having secured a naval commission, forty-year old Lieutenant Cook was finally given the command of his own ship. Officially, Cook was sent to the South Pacific to observe the Transit of Venus. An accurate calculation of ‘the distance of the sun from the earth and Venus’, would allow scientists to determine ‘the size of the universe’. Secret orders instructed Cook to…

In today’s world, memories and events are recorded and shared with others in an instant, immortalised in a digital form of forever on any number of social media platforms During the late 1960’s to early 1970’s the people of Franklin had a different type of social media in the form of the Franklin Photo News. Sixty-four pages every month or thereabouts of images capturing the…

The wide smiles, happy laughs and cheerful chatter of children and adults is always an uplifting sound and the atmosphere is never more saturated with excitement than at a birthday party or special occasion, so it’s important to get the best entertainment you can to make it a day to remember! At Imagine Face Painting and Entertainment, it is their job to do just that and they…

Platinum Homes was founded by a group of private business people in the Bay of Plenty region in 2003 and today operates throughout most of New Zealand via our network of showhomes and sales centres. Unlike many of our competitors, we are proud to say that Platinum Homes is still 100% New Zealand owned and operated. KEY BENEFITS OF CHOOSING PLATINUM HOMES We do the leg-work for…

A few weeks ago, the New Zealand Herald carried an article by Dr Douglas Fairgray which seemed to argue that, when it comes to determining the price of houses, supply doesn’t matter. He didn’t put it quite like that, but that was what he appeared to be saying. He noted that the Minister for Urban Development, Phil Twyford, was seeking to reduce urban land prices by “flooding the…

Due to the 3M sponsored visit of internationally renowned automotive customizer Chip Foose, this year’s CRC Speedshow was set to go off the hook. There were so many attractions to the show which kept the increased public numbers entertained all day. The CRC Speedshow has become the must do event for anyone with the slightest interest in all things automotive. We attended the show…

Lewis’ For Fashion is your one stop shop for all things in Men’s fashion. The wellstocked shop is located centrally at 41 King Street, the main street of Pukekohe, with plenty of parking both out the front and out the back. Peter and his professional staff have been serving customer’s locally and nationally for over 33 years and will ensure whatever the occasion they will find…

You wouldn’t believe how guilty it made you feel to have the girls’ night at his flat. You urged all the sisters-in-crime to help, to move faster. Throwing the windows wide open you flap tea towels madly, giggling nervously, frantic to expunge all whiffs of reefers, coconut oil and alcohol. And heat. Colin would be home soon. But your face was beaming, smiles were wide, white…

You wouldn’t believe that we’d never discussed it. ‘Want some?’ Tony mumbles, offering the soggy roach hanging off his lip. I take the spit-soaked thing, sucking it hard, and we’re the neighbourhood kids we once were again, when we’d share a straw, working the dregs of childhood chocolate shakes. Me and Antonio go way back. We share teenage days, sporting successes and…

You wouldn’t believe that the elderly lady in front of me used to be one of the most famous Chinese opera singers in Singapore. In the 1960s, she dominated the show business in Southeast Asia, touring the countries with her stage name Fenghuang, meaning phoenix in Chinese, known for its virtue and grace. Wherever she went, she was closely followed by throngs of admirers who…

The U-196 arrived off the Northland coast sometime in May 1945, with a small team of German nuclear scientists and their equipment. They had been ordered there by the commander of the German submarine forces, Admiral Dönitz, as part of a secret agreement between Germany and Britain, after the United States had determined to exclude Britain from the Manhattan Project, immediately…

With a mercurial mind, at times untameable but unashamedly honest, one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed literary icons lived a brief but tumultuous life. Born as Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp, October 14th, 1888 in a small wooden house in Thorndon, Wellington, she was the third daughter of five siblings in a commercially and socially expansive family. Her father, Harold Beauchamp,…