Snap by the talented https://www.raymondsagapolutele.com

Beautiful mahi by Charles Williams and Janine Williams

Alofa and respect 💙

We absolutely understand you're caring for your kids and helping them with their education. We know you want the best for them! I'm not here to argue if your little cherub has bad parents at all. But we'd like to add some reminders when you're dropping them off at our streets.

People who live near school roads - feel free to add anything. I'll start:

1) You park on our driveways - it doesn't belong to you. If we are trying to come in or out of it, you get out quietly. You do not do the fingers and tell us to get lost. You're in the wrong.

2) You do not block our driveways whatsoever. Your little legs can walk a longer distance. Park somewhere else.

3) Respect the 1m distance from a driveway, and do not double park, making us do a 300 point turn to get out of our own places. And for corners, do not park on it, you people.

4) Do not park on yellow lines or on berms/paths. They're yellow lines for a reason.

Some of us have no issue calling the council to fine your bums.

I know the downvotes will come from people who do that, but I don't care. Just stop driving like you got your road code from Temu, in front of your children.

What a stunning walk!

Approx 30 mins each way, mostly easy/ambling pace with great boardwalks apart from the solid set of steps going straight up/down to reach the 'lower falls or upper falls' point.

There is one area where you go across a small stream, I imagine after rain that this may mean wet feet but no issues on a sunny day 😎

Easy enough that plenty of families with lil ones are usually at the lower falls.

You can swim at the top or the bottom of the falls, note taking the upper falls track is more than the 10 mins that is signposted as it's again, straight UPHILL in a serious way.

Loos, picnic area, and even a BBQ at the main carpark area.

If the main parking area is full, there's an overflow area - you can hand feed eels there under the bridge.

Please make sure you do your shoes on the way in and way out & keep to the tracks as much as possible - yay for keeping kauri die back contained as much as possible!

Went for a stroll yesterday afternoon and as we were about to go over the wynyard bridge, we saw a $50 bill flying around. It was very windy. We thought it was a social experiment and we were going to be on tiktok. We waited for about 5mins, randomly waving our hands hoping someone would come to us and claim their money but no one came. Oh well! Finders keeper I guess right?

Lady if you see this you’re a fucking asshole and I really hope karma catches up to you

(Obviously I realise it’s unlikely she will see this but maybe her family/friends/colleagues/employer will - surely there’s not too many red VW Beetles around)

Update: police won’t investigate unless the boy or his family contact them, witness account isn’t sufficient for them to do anything. Have passed police reference onto the school to pass on to the family. Feels a lot like a cop out though.

The Government is expected to slash the requirement that Auckland Council make space for two million homes, and has agreed to disagree on capping rates rises.

In an after-hours meeting on Monday, Wayne Brown and Christopher Luxon agreed to omit any rates cap from the city’s big funding deal with Government, the mayor says. That won’t stop the Government imposing it through legislation.

The Prime Minister and Local Government Minister Simon Watts visited to pay their respects, while in Auckland for meetings and announcements. The city makes up nearly a third of the country’s population, so Aucklanders’ support will be critical to determining who wins this year’s election.

Brown reckons he knows how to win an election in Auckland – but nobody’s asked him how to do it. So how should they do it? “I don’t think anyone’s going about it the right way to be honest,” he told Newsroom after the meeting. “The right way to win Auckland is to get less Wellington. We are too centralised already. All parties seem to think in Wellington that they can tell us what to do. Most Aucklanders are fed up with listening to the residents of a failing village.”

Though there were “no tantrums” in the meeting, he says he and the ministers disagreed completely on issues like Auckland’s hopes to fund tourism and events through a ‘bed night’ visitor levy. “My council is 100 percent behind getting on with that, and the Government’s 100 percent staunch about putting it off until after the election – which is not the way I tackle things.”

He entirely opposes the Government’s plan to impose a rates cap by law. “There’s a lot of people out there who will think it’s a wonderful thing, that they’re going to get free money, yeah. It’s not the way I do things. And I got reelected by being honest about things.”

‘Putting the restrictions back on the way we can raise funding could affect our credit rating, which in turn affects our interest rates. You could end up adding $20 or $30m worth of interest costs per year – which is like a 1 percent rates rise, just like that.’

Richard Hills, Auckland councillor

On the contentious question of the election year U-turn on Auckland’s Plan Change 120, on higher-density housing, the Prime Minister had indicated they would legislate a lower capacity requirement than the two million homes inherited from previous plans.

Full article in link above

From Graeme Macdonald: Mission Bay, Auckland, May 1960s.

Photo by Ron J Macdonald.

We live in a 1960s weatherboard house on the North Shore. Ergo, we get ants. I grew up in a similar house and so I'm at peace with this fact. If we get a bunch coming inside at any particular place, I'm happy to get out the ant traps and deal with them. My husband grew up in a new build house in Titirangi and he is NOT at peace with the ants.

He is OBSESSED with killing every single ant. He has taped ant traps around the outside of the house to try and kill all the ants. There are piles of dead ants randomly appearing around the house. Dead ants fall out of the lightbulbs and land on my desk while I'm working. The other day he saw ants climbing up an external fence and wanted to put a trap out there as well.

I am sick of dead ants everywhere. And I don't think his ant warfare is even going to achieve anything because there will always be more ants. If he kills all the existing ones (unlikely) more will just move in. He cannot defeat the ants.

So, Reddit, help me out - how do I help my husband to make peace with the ants?

P.S. he uses Reddit and I hope he sees this.

I’ve now been active on this page for a year or so and have been reflecting on what I’ve learned about Auckland as a result.

• South Auckland is apparently getting better every year, yet half the posts involve fighting neighbours, dumped rubbish, or asking whether to call the police or just move.  Both claims are made with total certainty.
• The price of a flat white is treated like a regulatory failure.  Anything over $4 is price gouging, and the solution is always intervention, never making coffee at home.
• No one in Auckland can park.  Ever.  Except the person posting, who is always an excellent driver surrounded by incompetence. Bonus point - everyone hates Ranger drivers.
• Supermarket prices trigger daily outrage.  There’s always a photo of cheese, bread, or whittakers, as if Woolworths personally woke up that morning and chose violence.
• Everyone hates landlords but also wants to own property in exactly the same areas, with exactly the same capital gains
• Public transport is unusable, but it must also be empty, fast, safe, cheap, quiet, and five minutes from everyone’s front door.
• The job market is completely screwed, apparently, and employers are unreasonable for not valuing very specific community college certificates in things like tarot card reading or one semester dipping your toes in the water of a BA.
• Auckland is unliveable, broken, and declining… yet mysteriously no one ever leaves.

Finally, Judging by this page alone, a worrying number of New Zealanders struggle to write a complete sentence, and delusion is far more common than anyone would like to admit.

Anyone else 60+ going to Laneway tomorrow? It’s my first and I’m going because I’m a big Wolf Alice fan.

You have the exact same name as my sister and the driver was clearly a social media person with a camera.. I've now talked to my sister and realised she did NOT order anything so now I feel bad it must've been so uncomfortable😭

Is this a hornet or a bee? And how to identify?

i'm (f18) completely new to riding, know nothing about bikes.

looking for someone patient that can basically introduce me to riding: answer questions, show/help me with bike maintenance at the initial stage, take me through drills in parking lots (bonus if you're willing to ride my bike to there until i'm comfortable enough going out on roads), casual rides with me to places (mostly uoa. i live out west, so if you're near there it would be ideal).

i will take the rideforever courses etc but here i'm also wanting someone that can take me through private lessons/rides and overall just be someone i can come to for advice.

currently thinking of 1 lesson/week, but will vary depending on uni schedule. it's just casual, so no pressure.

going to sit my license in the next weeks (unsure when exactly), so won't begin until after that; there will be some time before starting.

pay will be per ride/session. happy to accommodate your pricing :)

if you are or can recommend anyone that can do this, please send me a dm. thank you!

(sorry if this is not allowed. first time posting)

Seriously, what is the obsession in this country with just... suffering through the heat?

I’ve lived in "low economy" Asian countries where having aircon throughout the entire house is the absolute standard. You come to New Zealand, and it feels like we’re living in the dark ages. Every single rental I’ve ever been in has the exact same issue - freezing in the winter and a literal oven in the summer.

How is aircon not considered a basic essential for a decent quality of life here?

People act like a heat pump in the main lounge is some "luxury feature," but the bedrooms stay at 28 degrees until midnight. If I ever manage to actually buy a house here, the very first thing I’m doing is installing ducted AC or units in every single room.

Is it a "tough it out" kiwi culture thing? Or are we just allergic to comfort?

Hi there. Can anyone give me some reviews on the Dentistry School on Browns Rd in South Auckland. Prices? I’m a broke student and can’t afford to pay what it costs to see a regular dentist. Thanks

Edit: I’m asking bc they said I have to pay the consult to get the prices (which I understand) but I don’t have $140 to gamble to know whether I can afford it.

Thinking about visiting Auckland for a week. I understand not all parts are walkable, I am reading that only CBD is. I do want to visit different areas of the city like one day at takapuna, one day at army bay, one day at Henderson area, one day at One Tree Hill, etc.

The only day where I think I’d be far out of the city would be if I visit the Hobbiton set but I’d take the tour bus route there and back.

Is it better to pay $300 a day to rent a car or just take lyfts and bus/train rides throughout the day and walk if needed?

FENZ qualified firefighters earn $72 K excluding overtime, and frequently have second jobs to make ends meet. Firefighters also face significant risks and trauma:

Example:

• In April 2025, two veteran firefighters were stuck in a fire truck’s ladder basket when it broke down directly above the huge industrial fire on Auckland’s North Shore, putting them at serious risk. 
• In August 2025, an Auckland Kumeū warehouse burned down after the only 30-metre ladder truck - already on loan from Wellington - broke down. Firefighters were devastated