Helen Clark's bid for the UN's top job took a hit this week after it was reported that she had slipped to seventh out of the 11 candidates. She

There we were, cocooned in the belief that this was going to be a mild winter. Well, it was, until along came a polar blast to remind

What is it like to be a boy? And for once I'm not posing one of my signature esoteric questions which tend to float to the front of

Murder capital of New Zealand? I wandered the mean streets (actually, street) of Kaitaia this week, looking for Sky. I was bound

If one more media outlet uses the words: "Kaitaia" and "homicide capital" in the same sentence, I will have to give them a hiding

Parliament must make an urgent stand to defend local democracy. Our elected representatives must not give the Government sweeping

It comes up every now and then, the question ... "is Maori language week tokenism?" Particularly in a country that aspires to be

There's something to be said for a wet, cold, stormy weekend. Especially if you have a roaring fire. We haven't had many stay-at-home

Accidents will happen ... no matter what. So it becomes a question of how much we want to invest in limiting the damage. Huge effort

Perhaps the days of the modern Olympics are over. Oh, don't get me wrong; I'm one for the grand occasion and I'm certainly one for

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

When it comes to vegetables, schooling and anaesthetics, local is usually better. Not always true for the tendering of council contracts

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

Everything we do involves some degree of risk. Cycling to work, crossing the road, going for a run. Mostly, these activities are

Turning 18 is a big deal in New Zealand. Once you're 18, you can drink, vote, smoke, buy scratchies, place bets at the TAB or use

I'm all for anything that will save children from being abused or, worse, killed at the hands of those who are meant to be cuddling

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

Kaitaia teenager Nina Griffiths has an ally in Mike King. And the pair have an ally in this media outlet. The causative factors

"It is not responsible for newspapers to publish calls for class warfare, extortion and disorder like this. The Northern Advocate

Northland's winter throws up all sorts of oddities on our beaches. In the past month we've had whales, albatrosses and now turtles

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

I came across a rather unsettling photograph the other day. It was a picture showing an enormous amount of work being done on 10

Driving through the Hutt Valley I often think of Noel Coward, who dropped the withering comment, "Very flat, Norfolk", into bitchy

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

It's a sport that's traditionally been associated with the most macho of attitudes. Rugby players are meant to be tough, staunch

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

This week I celebrated yet another birthday. Perhaps celebrated isn't quite the word though I did enjoy a beverage. Or two. You don't

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

The digital enlightenment has arrived and it has brought unto us ... Pokemon? Really? And the point of the game is to loiter round