Articles by Sally Sumner

It’s that time again when the ‘love them or hate them’ fruit is in abundance, whether you like to eat them straight off the tree, in desserts or cakes, or just want others to take them away, the Feijoa is a big part of every kiwi’s Autumn. The feijoa was collected in southern Brazil by a German explorer Freidrich Sellow in 1815 and introduced to Europe by French botanist and horticulturist, Dr Edouard Andre, in 1890. It was named after…

Nz’s First Poppy Day · One Hundred Years Ago, on April 24th 1922, New Zealand held its first Poppy Day. It followed an international effort led by French woman, Madame Guérin who was a well-known touring lecturer and fundraiser, who split her time between living in the USA and France during the First World War. She was a director of the “American and French Children’s League”, which was the US branch of the French charity “La Ligue des enfants…

I like the above car analogy. The author is unknown, but it reportedly first appeared in print in 1998 uttered by a US youth football coach whose team had had a bad season. It is pretty self-explanatory when driving and can be applied to most of life’s situations. Simply put, it means that where you’re headed is much more important than what you left behind. The past is the past, it can not be changed or undone. For some it contains painful…

The Spanish Flu The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919. In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. · It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became…

Like all amazing aestheticians, the staff at HARLEH Laser Clinic are extremely passionate & truly love their work and work environment. They are especially enthusiastic about the industry and how it is continually evolving which is why they are very excited this January to have launched Cutera Enlighten Tattoo Removal & Skin Rejuvenation Treatment. Some of the treatment offerings include Permanent Laser Hair Reduction, vascular treatments,…

The New Zealand Government still advises all kiwis with an ‘do not travel’ overseas advisory in the wake of the Covid Pandemic that has gripped the world since 2020. So just what are your options for the intrepid Kiwi traveller who has always had the hankering to broaden their horizons or complete that OE. · The global situation remains complex and rapidly changing. While some countries and territories have reopened their borders to travellers,…

The Napier Earthquake – Feb 3, 1931 · On the morning of 3 February 1931, the air in Napier ‘had grown still and oppressive’ and the sea was ‘so calm and still’ and a ‘most peculiar colour’, (Wright, 2001). At about 10:47am an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck central Napier and Hastings causing widespread damage and resulting in the deaths of 256. For two and a half minutes the earth shook with a violent force, with those…

The earliest recorded New Year’s celebration according to many sources is thought to be in Mesopotamia, a historical region of Western Asia around 2000 B.C. The celebrations actually occurred during the vernal equinox in mid-March — as this was considered the start of the new year by the calendar at the time. It was an elaborate eleven-day festival that would probably put our current parties to shame. According to sources, the Ancient…

The Commonwealth of Australia was founded on January 1st as six former British colonies became six states with Edmund Barton as the first prime minister. The commemoration was declared at a ceremony held in Centennial Park in Sydney, after a process of deliberation, consultation and debate involving majority votes across all of Australia. Not everyone was allowed to vote, however with Western Australia and Queensland excluding indigenous people…

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its black-and-white navigation cameras to capture panoramas of this scene at two times of day. Blue, orange, and green color was added to a combination of both panoramas for an artistic interpretation of the scene. · On Nov. 16, 2021 (the 3,299th Martian day, or sol, of the mission), engineers commanded Curiosity to take two sets of mosaics, or composite images, capturing the scene at 8:30 a.m. and again at 4:10…