SOMEONE smiled on Kaitaia the day Peter and Dinny Dryburgh decided to make it their home.

"I didn't expect this," Peter Dryburgh said when he finally had the chance to speak at his farewell from practice in Kaitaia on Saturday night.

Peter Dryburgh, who succeeded Dr Denis Tree as Kaitaia Hospital's surgeon superintendent in 1980, was reportedly a little non-plussed by his invitation to a farewell in Kaitaia on Saturday night.

A 47-year-old Pukenui man denied charges of wounding and committing a dangerous act, both with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, when he appeared before Judge Greg Davis in the Kaitaia District Court last week (Thursday).

The storm that was predicted to strike Northland over the weekend caused plenty of minor problems for police and emergency services, but little serious damage.

A laundromat in Kerikeri has been damaged by fire today.

Pacific Economic Ambassador has been hospitalised with suspected dengue fever after a visit to Papua New Guinea.

Sentencing of an American tourist who admitted causing the deaths of two Northland women in a car crash has been put off until next Saturday.

Far North paddlers headed the New Zealand vanguard at the 2016 IVF Va'a World Elite and Club Sprints Champs in Australia last week.

Recent media releases are indicating that electricity supply charges are to change to effect a price drop so that South Island consumers will pay less as sources of generation are nearby...

Kaitaia's Open the Curtains initiative has completed its first community working bee.

Ritchies has suspended its Pawarenga school bus service to Broadwood Area School while an assault on a driver on May 6 is investigated.

The vast majority of Kiwis support creating a marine sanctuary in the Kermadec Islands northeast of New Zealand, a new poll indicates.

It had been a "day of terror" in the Kaitaia District Court cells, counsel Tracey Spencer told Judge Greg Davis more than five hours after her client was stood down in custody on Thursday.

There are a number of points to make with regard to Bishop Jim White and your recent article on the Waimate North parish.( Six do not a congregation make, May 3).

THREE years ago Kaitaia's senior police officer and his boss were invited to a meeting at the local fire station, where they were roasted by a gathering of grumpy business people.

Air New Zealand promised an improved service from Kerikeri when it abandoned its Auckland/Kaitaia flights last year, but now a fight has begun to retain the early morning flight from Kerikeri to Auckland.

The young Penrith prop James Fisher-Harris is far from a household name but has already been compared with Queensland and Australian legend Gorden Tallis.

Kaitaia has experienced a dramatic reduction in burglaries after the council and police joined forces to combat the problem.

Several local women received a lucrative prize draw at the Jennian Homes Mother's Day Fun Run/Walk event in Paihia on Sunday.

Services provided by Hospice are free to those who receive them, so sponsorship, fundraising and donations are key to their ability to serve.

The Far North District Council is committed to keeping the Far North tidy, and appreciates your correspondent's concern for the environment.

Peter Dryburgh would have had trouble finding Kaitaia on a map when he was growing up in South Africa and Rhodesia, but the Far North has very much been home to him, his wife Dinny and their children for the last 36 years.

Police in Kaitaia have won high praise, and an award, for their collaborative approach to using CCTV to monitor their town, thereby reducing crime dramatically.

Two pou, one of them in two pieces, that were found in a shed in Okahu Road, Kaitaia, earlier this year, are now undergoing expert examination by conservator Rose Evans, on behalf of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

Young people from many Hokianga communities have jumped at the chance to build hands-on emergency services skills in a training programme that kicked off on Saturday.

Kamo 2 Kerikeri 2 (half time 1-1): The champions forced to accept a draw from fellow title contenders Kamo in this top of the table clash from the Northland Premier Division at Kamo on Saturday.

The article 'Council, SPCA look to co-operate over dogs' (April 26) contains misleading facts that need correcting.

BILL ENGLISH'S assertion that a lot of (young) New Zealanders who should be out there looking for work are "pretty damned hopeless" has been derided by some as an admission of failure on the part of his government.