Artist aids in kiwi release
Opua artist Adele Earnshaw and the Bay of Islands Rotary Club are collaborating to restore kiwi to the hills behind Paihia. Ms Earnshaw's oil painting of a North Island brown kiwi has been reproduced as a signed, open-edition print on archival paper, with the Rotary Club covering printing costs. All proceeds will go to the conservation group Bay Bush Action, and will be earmarked for an upcoming kiwi release in the Opua Forest and/or Project Nest Egg, in which kiwi eggs are incubated and chicks released when big enough to defend themselves. Prints are selling for $75 unframed or $200 framed, plus shipping costs. For more details check out www.baybushaction.org.nz (click on the Help Kiwi tab).
Motorist arrested after chase
A driver has been arrested after a short police pursuit in the Far North. Sergeant Claire Carter said a male driver allegedly failed to stop for police on Quarry Rd, Awanui, about 6.20pm on Monday and a chase ensued. He was allegedly driving in excess of the 100km/h speed limit. The car was spiked on Gill Rd before it finally stopped on Bonnetts Rd in Kaitaia. The driver is expected to face charges.
Lost longline returned
A Seahorse longline lost by a fisherman at Puheke, in the Far North, has been found and returned to its owner. Colin and his cousin Phil were fishing out there last Wednesday and found it. They rang the phone number on the Seahorse and returned it to the delighted owner in Whangarei the next day. It still had all the hooks on it, but the 25 huge snapper the owner thought he had probably caught, had all escaped. The strobe light was still working.
Marae gets Wi-Fi
Tau Henare Marae in Pipiwai has taken its first major step into the digital world by having free Wi-Fi installed. After a chance meeting at InternetNZ's NetHui in November, Delaraine Armstrong met Gravity Internet's Tim Johnson who offered to install the hardware and connect Pipiwai to the internet and the work was done last week. Now people in Pipiwai have free open access to the internet from Tau Henare Marae, right on their doorstep.