A stunning day failed to attract a big field to Houhora on Sunday to contest the long-standing Mt Camel Trophy.

The new Te Oneroa a Tohe (90 Mile Beach) Board got off to what Te Rarawa representative Haami Piripi described as an auspicious start on Tuesday morning, with a special gathering and karakia on the beach at Ahipara.

If Community Business and Environment Centre (CBEC) GM Terry Jones has his way, Northland will one day be known as the cycling capital of New Zealand.

A new pop up space will be open for business on Boxing Day (Saturday) in the old Betta Electrical Building at Taipa, offering a stage for Doubtless Bay's creative fraternity.

Te Runanga Nui o Te Aupouri acknowledged completion of the ministerial inquiry into the affairs of the Aupouri Maori Trust Board at an iwi hui in Te Kao almost two weeks ago.

The last week of the year for the Kaitaia Gymnastics Club year saw annual prizegiving ceremonies held for the major competitive classes.

Surf Protection Society (SPS) is calling for Northland surfers to unite in the campaign to have all local surfbreaks listed for protection on the Northland Regional Coastal Plan.

ONE of the nicest things about Christmas, apart from the true significance of a festival that tends to be buried under an avalanche of hedonism and greed, is that it seems to encourage the unleashing of common sense.

An investigation into a Maori trust board that collapsed earlier this year, leaving at least 12 people out of work and its iwi facing a hefty debt, has found no evidence of fraud or criminal activity.

A 13-year-old girl told the Kaitaia District Court last week that the man who admitted abusing her had torn her family apart.

One moment Barbara Hutchins was walking back to her car in Kaitaia's old Pak'nSave carpark, the next she was sprawled on the concrete, one hip broken and one shoulder dislocated, her head underneath the car where her husband Mike was waiting for her.

People who offend in this way could expect to go to jail, Judge Duncan Harvey told a 57-year-old man in the Kaitaia District Court last week.

The final formal event of the year for the Doubtless Bay Croquet Club before Christmas featured a number of highlights which all hit that special 'G-spot' according to club reporter Peter Hatnall in his report on the day's proceedings.

Have you ever gone fishing and come back empty-handed? Have you ever been snorkelling and there's not much to see?

A 52-year-old woman died yesterday after a one-vehicle crash on State Highway 10, near the top of Kaeo Hill.

Life changed in an "absolute instant" when 44-year-old Deanna (Dee) Trevarthen was told she was suffering pleural mesothelioma (asbestos cancer). Just months earlier she had been undergoing fertility treatment in the hope of conceiving.

Meet the family-orientated martial arts club from the Far North which operates with a definitive point of difference.

Owen Finlayson could afford to grin on Saturday afternoon.

A mixture of Santa, antiques and the odd pair of jandals was a winning formula for Shackleton's Unichem Pharmacy in this year's Christmas window-dressing competition in Kaitaia.

Northland Waste, which has the Far North District Council's waste and recycling contract in the north of the district, is once again reminding residents that only pre-paid rubbish bags or the contents of wheelie bins will be collected from the kerb.

Police are still investigating a major fire west of Ngawha on Sunday, but principal rural fire officer Myles Taylor has already labelled it the result of a "blatant act of stupidity".

A 33-year-old man died when the vehicle he was driving crashed through a farm fence on Duncan Road, between Kaingaroa and Fairburn, and rolled multiple times down an almost sheer drop on Sunday morning.

With Australia making much of its domination over New Zealand in the recent test cricket series, one Far North man has done his bit to pull the ledger back in favour of the right side of the ditch by winning the Australian windsurfing championship.

The organisers of the NAKFA 7-a-side social football competition have issued their traditional challenge to other local sporting organisations to give the gift of sport this Christmas.