A local man has taken the early lead in the Snapper Bonanza surfcasting competition after weighing in a whopping 9.995kg snapper.

Say no more

Playing on a rugby field as a schoolboy in Hawke's Bay, Troy Kingi never imagined he would one day be acting the part of his team-mate Piri Weepu in a movie.

Spending on pokies in the Far North has plunged by more than 10 per cent, more than three times the national decline.

Far North teacher Kelvin Davis will have another tilt at the Te Tai Tokerau seat for Labour in this year's general election.

The 2014 Snapper Bonanza got off to the best possible start with perfect conditions, a record number of snapper landed, and a fish big enough to win the contest outright in other years hooked in the first few hours.

Given some rarely composed sheep to work with, Northland's best sheepdogs went on the front foot in the Mangonui leg of the Northland sheepdog trials in Aurere.

The 90 Mile Beach Surfcasting Club's traditional lead-up to the Captain Morgan Snapper Bonanza, the Twilight Competition, proved more of test of endurance rather than fishing skills in the wake of the departing Tropical Cyclone Lusi.

Gail Gillespie will slip into well-earned retirement at the end of this month, after 26 years' service to Far North Hospice.

Customer service has long been touted as small-town businesses' best defence against big box stores, and nobody provides better service in Kaitaia than Shackleton's Amcal pharmacy.

The Far North's advocate for the elderly, Glenis Hill, has been publicly recognised for her services to the community.

A clean-up is continuing in parts of the Far North after tropical Cyclone Lusi swamped businesses, sank boats and carried off chunks of shore and sea wall.

Kalani Hansen may not have recorded the greatest results at any of the three events making up this year's Billabong Grom Series, but his freesurfing certainly caught the eye of several photographers.

64-year-old part time teacher qualified for the world championships in Brazil through another successful campaign at the national sprint championships on Lake Karapiro earlier this year.

Growing up at Awanui and getting a "hiding" from his brothers taught 17-year-old Rayner Johnson to take out his aggression on his school mates. But now this former bully is on a mission.

Best of care

The 10 pou that were ceremoniously unveiled at Ahipara on Sunday were much more than stakes in the ground, Eru Harawira said after blessing the first of the markers.

SPCA puppy Tigger (Hen-pecked but happy, Northland Age March 6) didn't spend long on the shelf.

The Far North XI were pretty much blown off Cobham Oval by their Whangarei Invitational counterparts in the fourth and final leg of the inaugural City vs Country 40/40 series.

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.

One of the major events on the Kerikeri Bowling Club's summer programme, the two-day men's triples tournament played recently was described by organisers as a huge success with 29 teams from Northland clubs involved.

The organisers of last month's anti-oil exploration Te Reinga Basin hikoi to Waitangi met last week with kaumatua, community members and representatives from Greenpeace, the Northland Forest and Bird Society, the Green and Mana parties.