Up until a day or so ago I had no idea who Markus Zusak was. If he had sat down next to me and started yarning I would have thought

Up until a day or so ago I had no idea who Markus Zusak was. If he had sat down next to me and started yarning I would have thought

Tall poppy syndrome is uniquely Kiwi. Too often we're slow to celebrate success and quick to bring people down. We need to make

Having access to quality internet is a vital part of modern life. It makes our personal lives more efficient and convenient, gives

I have always liked the legends of this long white cloud, especially those born from our sporting endeavours. The picture they paint

I don't like seafood but I know plenty of others who do. They rave about delicacies from the deep and will go to great lengths to

Let the games begin! Not those ones in Rio, but the guessing games over Jamie Oliver's baby name. The latest addition to the chef's

By the end of last week I could hardly wait for the Olympics to start. We made a day of watching the opening ceremony and ever since

National's KiwiSaver HomeStart helps New Zealanders into a modest first home. Since the Government launched the scheme, it has helped

State Highway 2 from Tauranga to Waihi is known as one of the most notorious stretches of road in the Bay. It has claimed numerous

Every year about this time when the cold days and dark nights of August come around I start making promises to myself that I am going

A 24-hour liquor ban in Te Puke can only be a good thing. This week councillors on the Western Bay of Plenty District Council policy

How flattering of Hillary Clinton to borrow fashion tips from Helen Clark while they both audition for top jobs. It was Prime Minister

New Zealand's native birds and plants are a treasured part of our nation's identity. We use symbols of the kiwi and the silver fern

Celebrating is something that transcends cultures, demographics and history. No matter when you were born, in what country and even

The greatest sports event on the planet is about to kick off with more than 10,000 athletes getting ready to become the focus of the

Harry Potter mania has once again swept across the globe. Billed as the eighth instalment in the series, Harry Potter and the Cursed

There are a lot of good rugby yarns shared after a post-match battle on a footy field. Over the years, just like a Chinese whisper

They've been the best of times, surely, free of war and famine, well fed and medicated, never needing to bother about things that

No matter the circumstances, the loss of a young life is always a tragedy. Shargin Stephens, who died on Tuesday nearly two weeks

Observation and knowledge of reality are topics that raise all sorts of prickly philosophical questions, chief among them the one

The International Olympic Committee's decision not to ban the Russian Federation from the Rio Olympics is a blow to clean athletes

I was about 10 years old when my brother shot me in the knee. The .22 calibre bullet ripped a small hole in my corduroy trousers

Are you a donor? By that, I mean are you registered to give your organs, or body parts, to someone who needs them in the event of

I've always bought free-range eggs. I've never thought twice about it. If I'm a bit strapped for cash, I will forgo eggs, rather than

Have you ever walked past someone and said to yourself: "geez he looks familiar - in fact he looks just like me?" I remember watching

As a society we seem to be getting more and more lazy. Far-fetched as it may seem, it does make me wonder if one day we really could

What better way to encourage people to recycle than by paying them to do it. That is essentially what Tauranga City Council voted

It's hard in today's connected, catalogued world to go off grid and be intrepid. Unless you're prepared to go to some fairly extreme

It's a mind-blowing level of corruption, even for Russia. A report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency has revealed that