A combination of sunstroke, heat exhaustion and food poisoning derailed any plans Brooke Ah Sam held of doing well at the Teen Gauntlet Gathering in San Diego last month.

Expect stocks of green and black face paint to be in high demand in Kaitaia shops this weeks as supporters and players from the top two teams in Mangonui senior club rugby go head to head in the Battle for the Bell Shield at Arnold Rae Park this Saturday.

As a boy, Paul Marshall Slade (Ngapuhi, Ngati Kahu) dreamed of carving pieces like those he saw at the Auckland Museum, and a move to the Far North more than 30 years ago helped make that dream a reality.

An oily question Here we are, a small group of two islands in the South Pacific, self-reliant on what we can export, from dairy products and produce. In real terms we aren't a rich country, but....

A Norwegian oil executive was surprised and confused when a protester began overturning tables at a hui in Kaitaia last week, but did not fear for his safety.

Two Far North District Council employees who have each clocked up 20 years of work for the organisation have been formally recognised for their long service.

Many motorists bypass Waipu these days, and those who don't would not expect to be accosted by a lady bearing gifts, but that's what happened to Kaikohe couple Tony and Debbie Taylor as they headed home from Auckland last week.

Two intrepid Northlanders are in sight of the finish line aboard their racing tuktuk that will take them almost the length of India.

North Force 3 Eastern Suburbs 0: In the end, the Auckland 16 Metro championship was decided without a shot being fired when Eastern Suburbs defaulted to North Force late last week.

Shooting dogs

A 33-year-old Massey, West Auckland man made a brief appearance before two Justices of the Peace in the Kaitaia District Court yesterday charged with the murder of Connor Morris in Auckland on August 3.

Three iwi - Te Aupouri, Ngai Takoto and Te Rarawa - are keenly interested in the jaw and bones that will be salvaged from a 10-metre sperm whale that came ashore on 90 Mile Beach last week, but getting at that material is a job for the experts.

Telling the stories he has accumulated may well take 20-year-old Auckland man Brando Yelavich almost as long as it has taken him to trek around New Zealand's coastline.

A bottlenose dolphin thought to have lost her calf after becoming stranded in the Kerikeri Inlet five years ago has adopted a baby of another species.

Northland season starts Northland rugby supporters will once again don their replica jerseys and drag their old Cambridge Blue coloured scarves out of the closet and converge upon Toll Stadium to watch the Taniwha playing their first game of the ITM Cup (

Bay competitionKotuuku Hokianga Kura beat Taheke in Bay of Islands netball in Kaikohe on Saturday to progress to the A grade final on Saturday August 23.

The Northland DHB has confirmed five further cases of measles in Northland (initially reported earlier this week as six). The victims, all children in the Hokianga and all unimmunised, had been in contact with the first case reported on July 29.

Finally the bridge has gone PROBLEM SOLVED: The footbridge at the end of Taaffe Street, Kaitaia was finally dismantled on Monday.

Local dartists returned from Rotorua where they once again boxed above their weight while representing the district.

A trio of Kaitaia gymnasts have achieved some excellent results at elite level while competing in Auckland competition over the past few weeks.

What were they doing?

Great values

No bail for accused drug dealer

Memories flowed like cold beer in the old public bar when more than 70 people, including many a former patron, gathered at Friday's farewell for the Kaikohe Hotel.

The scam itself is familiar, but fraudsters offering to fix a computer problem may now be deliberately targeting the elderly.

The first thing that happens when someone who works for the police achieves a service milestone is that someone with rank pulls out their personal file.

Whaling in the Far North

JC Nuts in Kerikeri

Rise in Kerikeri's population.

Far North Reap