An iconic building dropped off  Mount Maunganui’s cityscape recently. Built in 1977, The Hop House started off life as The Cream Can, a built-for-purpose  ice cream parlour. It was a well-known New Zealand franchise, and similar buildings...... Read More

The annual Rest Home Games  are back again this year with competitive teams from around  the Western Bay of Plenty fired up, ready to participate and show that age is no barrier. “The Rest Home Games is our event for the local rest...... Read More

Mike Stott is ready to rumble. His Lysaght Llamas team won the 2017 Cooney Lees Morgan Lunchbreak Battle and this year they’re back to defend their ‘world’ title. “I want to call out Chris Lowe from CMW Geosciences,” says...... Read More

I caught up with Dave Holder just as  he was about to drive onto the Cook Strait ferry. He’d flown in from France, gone straight to Dunedin to race in the Isuzu Otago Rally and was now heading home  to Mount Maunganui. “Coming...... Read More

I met Gary Sailey at one of Tauranga’s Hindi celebrations. He saw me sitting alone among the large gathering of people and came over to say ‘hi’, which is, I’ve discovered, a great way to start getting to know someone. Gary started...... Read More

“I reached the end of the line,” quips model railway enthusiast Roy Rosenberg.Declining health and difficulties with storage has prompted Roy’s decision to conclude his interest in model making and necessitated the rehoming of his remaining...... Read More

Often, great ideas come out of problems. We see something that needs fixing or changing, and we get stuck in and apply our minds to coming up with a new idea. It may be an invention, a solution or a new way of doing things that makes the world better,...... Read More

The International Youth Silent Film Festival New Zealand Regionals are happening again in 2018 and look set to be bigger and  better than before.The 2017 competition and VIP Red Carpet Awards night at Baycourt in Tauranga were both huge successes,...... Read More

The Bethlehem College Performing Arts Centre will be packed on Saturday, April 28 for the ‘Tabernacle of Worship’. Dancers will step out onto the stage resplendent in gold, purples, reds and turquoise, with satins and light fabric billowing...... Read More

I was in Pilot Bay on the evening in late January when the Wave Rider, skippered by Mike Welsh, quietly slid past and into its mooring near the old jetty. Mike had been looking for a yacht that he could sail around the world, or on an adventure up to...... Read More