It’s hard to imagine meeting world-renowned composers like Beethoven, Mozart and Stravinsky, yet this month, surprisingly to me, it seems I have.   Right in our midst, living in Tauranga, is award-winning composer Barry Lloyd Vercoe. Composer,...... Read More

Steampunk is coming to Tauranga in September with ‘Steam-Tember’. The idea to steer Tauranga into the world of steampunk came to Lindsey Morgan and her husband Mick after attending the ‘Steampunk the Thames’ event. “We...... Read More

You can tell when your Zumba Fitness instructor has been hanging out with thousands of other Zumba instructors.  The enthusiasm is high, the tempo goes up, and your butt and thighs hurt more  than they usually do. That’s the case with...... Read More

While chatting with Harley Couper about a Royal Enfield Classic 350 motorcycle he’d owned before purchasing his current Triumph Bonnerville, he told me he’d lost family and a friend to mental illness.  To be more specific, suicide. “My...... Read More

Sometimes it’s what you put in your house that makes it really feel like your home. From the bedroom to the lounge, from the dinner table to the desk, it’s important to connect with your furniture and buy furniture that makes your house...... Read More

If Tauranga has no museum, how does one explain Classic Flyers? Tucked away in Hangar Three, a group of volunteers with a passion for aviation are tinkering with old machinery and parts. They are quietly and methodically restoring and preserving aviation...... Read More

If you’ve never run before, or if it’s  been a long time between runs, the  thought of pulling on a pair of running shoes and pounding the pavement might seem a bit daunting. Miranda Clark, former event director of the Generation...... Read More

Hepi Mita was quietly working away in the national film archive in Wellington when Cliff Curtis asked him to go for a coffee. “Cliff said he was starting a production company and wanted a documentary on my mother to be one of his first projects,”...... Read More

Fairlie. Photo: Bev Bell.   The plan was to go to Fairlie, South Canterbury for a midwinter Christmas. About half of my family live in the Bay of Plenty, and most of the rest live in Canterbury. Grabaseat is a favourite phone app, and social...... Read More

Not many people still get a kick  out of snail mail – because these  days it’s all bills, bank statements,  and offers to buy or sell your house.  But for Greerton woman Tracie Collingwood that trip to the letterbox  is...... Read More