No solution

The failure is ours

Kaitaia (Mission Place) kindergarten teacher Gaylene West is about to lose the excuse that she will be washing her hair to avoid an unwelcome invitation.

Getting on Facebook is easy in Kaikohe. All you have to do is drive off from a service station without paying, although many other forms of crime will do it.

A large crowd gathered on the beach at Ahipara on Saturday to witness the returning of two green sea turtles to their natural environment, after months of expert rehabilitation.

Restrictions raised in hard-hit areas

The pool of women in New Zealand agriculture with leadership, governance and business skills is getting deeper thanks to a national initiative that recently completed its third year.

Not rocket science

The family of a Kawakawa teenager selected to represent New Zealand in touch in Australia later this year have been humbled by the show of support from the Bay of Islands community.

It's her father, Pastor Graeme Baucke, who gets the credit for sowing the seed when she was a child, and the desire to help others far less advantaged than any New Zealander remains as strong now as ever.

The rift within Ngapuhi over the government accepting Tuhoronuku's mandate to negotiate the tribe's Treaty grievance settlement widened last week with Ngati Hine withdrawing from the Crown-endorsed process.

Award-winning actor Pete Smith has a great deal of sympathy for Pineaha Murray, the 73-year-old Te Hapua man who said he and his wife were being driven from their home

What is the media trying to tell us on Waitangi Day?

When Tane sought to make peace with his brother Tangaroa he plucked off his eyebrows and threw them to his brother who didn't accept the offer but threw them back. They landed on the shore and to this day still protect the sand dunes from the sea.

I can probably only blame bad planning for the fact our garden is bereft of flowers to pick at this time of year. There are a few flowering grevilleas, some hibiscus and one perfect canna lily, but nothing that'd look any good stuffed in a vase.

One of the country's most recognised infantry units will be commemorated in the Far North in March as part of the 70th anniversary celebrations.

If looking at the cob-web covered golf bag lying forlornly in a corner of the garage induces a touch of the guilts, there's an enticing opportunity to shake off the inertia.

If you want to have a look at the new Audi A3 you’ll have to go to Auckland. The company doesn’t have a franchised dealership any further north which is a pity because they might sell a few over the Brynderwyns.

Same job, new tools

Shameful

Whangaroa's Catholic community is rallying to keep its convent, which has been part of the community for more than 80 years, but which the Marist order has decided to move to Kaikohe.

The Far North District Council imposed commercial and residential water restrictions at Opononi-Omapere last month, and now it's the turn of Kaikohe, Kaitaia and Rawene.

Vanessa Arsen and Donna Allpress' wedding on the beachfront at Opononi on Saturday was memorable for more than the usual of reasons. It was Northland's first marriage of two women, and the first time a same-sex couple from Kaikohe had exchanged vows.

Kaitaia GP Dr Lance O'Sullivan, New Zealander of the Year 2014, was characteristically quick to share the honour bestowed upon him when he was feted by friends and medical colleagues at Kaitaia Hospital last week.

A local teenager has been invited to join the Warriors Development Squad.

With the snapper being particularly prolific off the Far North west coast over the past few weeks, one local commentator believed this boded well for those anglers competing in next month's Captain Morgan Snapper Bonanza.

Easy options

The government has abandoned its attempts to sue a penniless Hokianga farmer and two fellow peace activists for $1.2 million.

Kaitaia tobacconist Raymond Jujnovich didn't have much to defend himself with when he was confronted by a knife-wielding robber early yesterday morning, so he made do with what was at hand - an unoccupied rabbit cage.

The weather didn't provide much of a welcome but that didn't worry the 30 Riders Against Teen Suicide who rolled into Kaikohe on Saturday as part of the Green Ribbon campaign.