April 2023

You are invited to our fourth StreetFEST Event on Saturday May 6th from 10am -2pm on Great South Road. This year it is being extended around into Broadway. “We’re so excited to be holding our 4th StreetFEST, where we will once again be showcasing all the things that make Papakura great.” says Tracy Shackleton, Papakura Town Centre Manager. “It will be a whanau friendly event…

A friend mentioned to me that other day that if everyone lived by the basics of the Ten Commandments, then we would live in paradise and it got me thinking… Would it really? The 10 Commandments are one of the cornerstones in Christianity having been given to Moses by God to share with all the Israelites after they left captivity in Egypt. Carved in stone, they were confined to…

This year has had a shaky start with the floods in Auckland then Cyclone Gabrielle. The impact of which has not been truly felt although it is safe to say listings and sales are down in affected areas. The latest monetary policy committee meeting - one projection of note that did change was the Reserve Bank house price forecast – the peak to tough fall is now expected to be -23%…

By Loz Blain The winners have been announced in the third annual World Nature Photography Awards. A haunting glance from a mud-crusted crocodile lying in wait takes the top honors, but there's a visual feast to enjoy from the other winners and runners-up. Based in London, this completely independent contest aims to encourage people all over the world to take in different…

Local MP Andrew Bayly and his youngest son George recently spent time living with the Dukha people of Mongolia. In this, the second of two articles, George recalls their experience of living and travelling with the Dukha family around their grazing lands. We finally arrived in the Khövsgöl region where our Dukha family were located after five days of travelling overland in 4WD…

The wreck of one of the most famous exploration ships in history has been located. Using a robotic submersible, the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust has found Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, which was crushed in the Antarctic pack ice in 1915. In the wake of Roald Amundsen's 1911 expedition that became the first to successfully reach the South Pole, Sir Ernest Shackleton…

Unfortunately, welfare spending is addictive. And addictive in two ways. First, once government has committed to a particular level of benefit, it is exceedingly difficult to reduce that level. And second, the benefit itself changes behaviour: many people who might otherwise have tried harder to find employment choose to go on, or stay on, a benefit, something strongly…

It was early March when the sixth annual model a day was held in Oratia in West Auckland. Hosted by Chris Hornblow and Shane Adlington this great day is a casual afternoon to celebrate all things Model A. Just on 50 Model A cars were in attendance including one Model T powered by Model A. The furtherest travelled was Kev Topham from Masterton with his Model A coupe which he…

Nellie Bly became a star journalist by going undercover as a patient at a New York City mental health asylum in 1887 and exposing its terrible conditions in the New York World. Nellie Bly became a star journalist by going undercover as a patient at a New York City mental health asylum in 1887 and exposing its terrible conditions in the New York World. Her reporting not only…