Thursday last week was the 200th birthday of Captain William Butler, the man who built the home on what is now Butler Point, across the harbour from Mangonui.

He's about to begin pursuing a degree in architecture at Auckland University, but 18-year-old Stefan Burrows has already well and truly added his name to the list of talented Far North artists.

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Assurances from Mayor John Carter that a place will be found for the North Hokianga i-Site at Opononi have not placated the locals.

A young Kaikohe couple have conceded defeat to the burglars who have broken into their cafe "countless times" since they opened it three years ago, and show no sign of giving up.

The first football trophy contested on planet Earth in 2014 has been won by a team with the curious moniker of Kick His Ass Seabass.

Selectors took an extended squad of 14 to the Bay of Plenty to help finalise 12 players for the 2014 Bailey's National Sevens in Rotorua this coming weekend.

Feel the pain

Auckland man Bruce Groves travels north several times every year to tend to the graves of his relatives in Kaitaia's public cemetery.

Fire crews from Houhora and Kaitaia, and the Northland Electricity rescue helicopter, were dispatched to Tapotupotu to what was reported as a drowning but tragedy had been averted thanks to two plucky teenagers.

The sun, sand and surf of summer, it’s what the Far North is known for. And fishing, camping and tramping.

We asked our political leaders to have a cheery chat at holiday time and most were happy to.

The name Kaitaia means abundance of food. Doubtless Bay was named by Captain James Cook who, in sighting it, is reputed to have said ‘doubtless a bay’

The original name still used by local Maori is Te Kohanga o Te Tai Tokerau (the nest of the northern people) or Te Puna o Te Ao Marama (the wellspring of moonlight). The full name of the Harbour is Te Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe – the place of Kupe’s great return

In the middle of winter 2013 a group describing themselves as Auckland Spirit Chasers spent two nights in the Stone Store in Kerikeri and the adjacent Kemp House, two of the oldest buildings in the country.

The call has gone out to Far North rodeo organisers to hold the open bull ride spectacle at 2pm in future after the Kaitaia rodeo took until 7pm to be wrapped up last Thursday.

Kerikeri accounted for Mangonui with relative ease to successfully defend the One Day Challenge Trophy in Taipa.

Not such a cracker

The death of a horse at Kaikohe, believed to be the result of taking fright when revellers welcomed the new year with fireworks, orphaned a 10-day-old foal and has reignited calls for fireworks to be banned.

New Year's Eve diners at Kerikeri restaurant The Italians enjoyed a particularly evening thanks to Neil Mayfield and his long-time girlfriend Tracey Tutin.

Far North District Council chief executive David Edmunds has resigned.

The Maori name for the largest township in the Far North is ‘dig, dig’. Not surprisingly, given the name, it is known as the horticultural centre of Northland and has been for centuries.

The name means ‘how sweet is the penguin’ - korora (blue penguin) and reka, meaning sweet. Russell was named after Lord John Russell, Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Named for the aromatic shrub held sacred by Maori and used for medicinal purposes. Kawakawa leaves (also known as peppertree) were placed over cuts and boils to speed healing and used for kidney disorders. Tea was made from an infusion of its leaves.

Kaikohe is a shortened version of the original, Kai kohekohe – meaning ‘to eat berries’. When early Maori were besieged, they were forced to hide in kohekohe trees where they survived by eating the fruit.

As house prices in Auckland and other main centres continue to soar, there's an emerging trend to sell the family home and move north.

The news that 51-year-old Mary Barra has been appointed as the first woman in the world to head a car company (General Motors in her case) is a surprise, not so much that it has happened because a woman at the helm of what is still a male-dominated indust

It's a rare enough thing for football in the Far North to see someone take up the whistle, and even more so when that person is a halfway decent player such as in the case of Kaitaia's Grant Morland.

Anyone turning up at Waipapakauri Domain on a rainy afternoon last Saturday could have been forgiven for thinking that the Northland league season had begun early.