Taonga

Over three weeks ago 2 year old Aisley Symes went missing from a Waitakere City (West Auckland) backyard. Within hours the various news services were speculating she had been kidnapped despite the fact that there was no evidence for this. Waitakere City has many steams, storm water drains, tidal... Sign in to see full entry.

New Zealand’s first commercial rocket launch (and, in fact, the Southern Hemishere’s first commercial space program) is set to go from a site on the Coromandel Peninsular (just east of Auckland City) next month. The aim is to provide low cost launches for scientific payloads using a hybrid fuel... Sign in to see full entry.

Regular readers will be pleased to learn that Taito Philip Field has achieved an historic double first - he is the first NZ Member of Parliament to be charged with corruption and the first MP to be successfully prosecuted for corruption. 11 charges of bribery and corruption were proven along with 15... Sign in to see full entry.

While I was away my old school, Kelston Boys High, got into a fracas with Auckland Boys Grammar School (not surprising) on the rugby field (also not surprising giving the long standing rivalry). This all came to national (and international) attention when the NZ Rugby Union got involved. On the four... Sign in to see full entry.

Unfortunately biking through France and Spain left me little time to blog AND it'll be a week or two before I can get this blog back on schedule (over 4600 photos to edit plus associated paperwork to bring into some sort of order plus... well, read on). I ended up with a fake 20 Euro note in... Sign in to see full entry.

A school principal ordered a pupil to change his clothes when he came to school wearing a kilt as part of a school art project. The principal was afraid some people might think the boy was a cross-dresser. The opinions of the ignorant aren’t worth the breath to utter them. On the other hand - good... Sign in to see full entry.

Judith Collins managed to steer through Parliament a Bill allowing the cars of “boy racers” to be crushed on the third conviction. At least that is how it’s being presented. The reality is much different. The Bill only gives the option for a car to be crushed rather than making it mandatory (NZ... Sign in to see full entry.

My tardiness has left a number of issues unaddressed. Normally (if I had managed to keep to my publishing schedule) this would be an update but, as I didn’t publish the original articles I’ll try to keep the backstory as short as possible… The NZ Geographic Board has decided the town of Wanganui... Sign in to see full entry.

The Kaimanawa horse cull has begun (long story made short - these are wild horses now recognized as a distinct breed but they live in a heritage area and are culled regularly). Traditionally most of the cull have been sold but this year they are destined for pet food. It’s not too late to buy or... Sign in to see full entry.

The Bain case continues. Last week concentrated on victim, Laniet Bain. The prosecution earlier presented a witness who claimed the behaviour of Laniet and David was closer to lovers than brother and sister. Another witness claimed she was afraid of David. The Defence has witnesses who say she told... Sign in to see full entry.