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Christmas means many different things to different people but at the heart of every Kiwi Christmas is quality time spent with family and friends. Tracy Shackleton, the Town Centre Manager and her fantastic team have pulled out all stops to ensure this year everyone will enjoy a Magical Christmas experience when they visit Papakura and its vast array of retailers. Carols in the Park is on Friday the 2nd of December in Central Park from 6 pm. …

Despite a diverse city of property types, locations and prices, the relative weakness across Auckland was evident everywhere in October, with values falling across the board, from -1.3% in both the North Shore (average value $1.52 million) and Franklin ($980,000) to -2.2% in Papakura ($1 million). · On the longer term annual measure, the smaller outer areas of Rodney, Papakura and Franklin have held up better, with average values in these areas…

If it’s not beginning to look a lot like Christmas yet, it will soon enough. This year, we’re looking forward to a host of events to help lift those – Christmas Spirit. CAROLS IN THE PARK – Friday Dec 2, from 6pm, Central Park: Pack a picnic for a fun filled, family-focused, free evening, featuring carols as well as other Christmas songs. · PAPAKURA ROTARY SANTA PARADE – Sunday Dec 4, from 3pm: From Central Park, the parade marches…

Red Shed Palazzo isn’t just about our beautiful Cafe, there’s so much more that we have to offer. From beautiful wedding areas, private functions, Christmas lunches, birthdays, business meetings, gatherings with friends, coffee groups, celebrations of life and any special occasion, there is always a reason to celebrate at Red Shed. The wide range of stylish, delicious food is cooked fresh on site and can be enjoyed both takeaway or dine-in…

Are you looking for something just a little bit special for this Christmas? Either for your own home or for that special friend? Whether you need delightfully different Christmas bling for your festive table or a unique gift that has the wow factor you need to check out the range hand picked by Toni Charteris at The Bespoke Living Room. · Located at 128 Stan Wright Rd, Karaka, a visit to The Bespoke Living Room is an indulgent foray into…

It started photography from my childhood. My mother photographed a lot and she developed her own images. She had a unique ‘reporters’ style of photography. Looking back now as an adult I remember photography parts and camera covers were my toys in very early childhood! At the age of 12 I bought my own camera with my first ever saved money and shortly after I registered to the photography club where I learned to photograph and develop film and…

The best asparagus is fresh and November is the perfect month to enjoy this highly seasonal crop. To tell if asparagus is fresh, look for stalks that are a rich, deep green color that get lighter toward the end of the stalk. The stalks should be firm to the touch. Pass by any stalks that are limp or dry with cracked ends. The tips of the asparagus should be tightly closed and the stalks should be uniform for even cooking. · One of the quickest…

It’s been an interesting month, local body elections resulting in many fresh faces at councils across the country and a new Auckland Mayor starting to make some noise (writing to Watercare and council chief executive Jim Stabback telling them to stop all work on the Government's Three Water reforms and asking for entire CCO boards to step down.) Renegade Labour MP Gaurav Sharma resigned prompting a referendum (byelection) that Labour probably…

The Registered Master Builders House of the Year Awards is the building industry’s most prestigious competition and the competition is fierce. This year saw builders from throughout the country do battle for gold, silver and bronze awards across both new and renovated builds in a number of categories. · This year the team at Navigation Homes Counties came away with GOLD in the Master Build 10 Year Guarantee Multi Unit…

Novature was born out of a desire to create “new age”, bespoke quality homes that can be easily built and transported to sites across New Zealand! · Greg, Brent & Hayden, joint directors of Novature collectively possess in excess of 100 years building experience. Their vast building and business knowledge has seen them develop government infrastructure projects, large scale community housing, hospitals and schools in the south pacific. Coupled…