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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…

Local builder Mike Wilson is the proud Stroud Homes franchisee for the South Auckland area. With 33 successful franchises in Australia and 6 in New Zealand, the Stroud Homes franchise is a name fast becoming associated with style, quality, attention to detail and trust. With a trusted builder like Mike at the helm of the team, who has over 16 years experiences in the building…

I’ve enjoyed 30 years of auditing the charities of NZ. The opportunity to meet people who passionately endeavour to improve the lives of those struggling with misfortune, is an everyday meeting with “Good Sorts”. I am equally amazed by New Zealander’s acceptance of the compassionate response to COVID-19, whereby the lives of the few vulnerable people mattered more than the…

Everyone at Navigation Homes is an expert at listening, from all the staff they employ in the office, through to the highly skilled and experienced contractors they use on site. Navigation Homes listen and deliver the building of your home to the highest standard, as well as being proud to call themselves local. Navigation Homes was founded in the Franklin region in 2007 by Aaron…

Auckland Zoo is celebrating the birth of its first baby rhino in 20 years – a healthy female delivered by first-time mum Jamila in a speedy one-hour labour 12 days ago. The much-anticipated birth of the southern white rhino calf on 14 August to mum Jamila and 30-year-old dad Zambezi follows a 16-month pregnancy - confirmed last April by faecal hormone testing of Jamila’s…

As I write this month, Auckland is again in a Level 3 lockdown, with all the frustrations and irritations of that situation. I myself got caught up in a huge traffic jam, which had four lanes of traffic (including the bus lane) at a total stand-still for more than an hour, because of a mad rush of people wanting to get tested for the virus – and I doubt if anybody in that traffic…

The headline for this article is a double entendre, which I’m pointing out just in case anyone was thinking about getting offended. It’s Tick-The-Box time coming up again shortly in New Zealand, and where some folks may still not be completely au fait with the vagaries of the MMP voting system – whilst others, being more nerdy in a political sense, are better up with the play –…