“I’m at the point where I have to sell my car in order to keep my family afloat. All my money has gone to the rescue.” That is what co-founder and board chair of Rescue, Revive, Rehome – Bay of Plenty, Siobhan Mikaere is now...

The D1NZ drifting championship series for 2020 is making its way to Trustpower Baypark Stadium for round three on March 28 and 29. Baypark is the only stadium event this year. It’s the third time drifting has been held in Tauranga. Managing...

A new police pathways programme has opened up for students in the Tauranga area. The programme was launched at Bethlehem College last week, with eight schools from around the region set to take part. Sarah Pinchin jumped at the opportunity to lead...

Local kindergarten Kids on Nineteen all dressed in red last Friday – not just for Valentine’s Day, but for a fundraiser they were holding for Heart Kids. Two of the kids that attend the kindy are heart babies – they have undergone...

It was a cheeky blue and white budgie with the most un-budgie like name of Adam, which inveigled its way into a little girl’s heart and kindled a lifelong passion.   “You think of it, he would say it. ‘Pretty boy’...

Waikato Bay of Plenty Football (WaiBOP) released a statement last week about a memorandum of understanding between Tauranga City AFC and Tauranga Boys’ College. The crux of the matter is that the club and school will work together which has not...

If the roar of an engine gets you going, you like shiny things or you’re weak at the knees because of a big set of wheels, the Tauranga Auto Extravaganza is where you need to be on February 29 and March 1. Organised by local enthusiasts Neville...

Ford Muscle Car Club Tauranga’s All Ford Day is entering its 21st year. On display on March 1 will be everything Ford alongside Peter Cramp and his 79 XD Ford Fairmont. Peter rebuild the Fairmont after it got stolen and stripped out 13 years...

He is a suave, urbane 16-year-old with a vision. “Ultimately I want a career as an airline pilot,” says Sam Inskeep. He may dream of Boeing 777-300’s but at the moment he’s flitting about in a Cessna 172, getting up those hours....

The plucky 14-year-old might be running the gauntlet of every bus, truck and car on busy Cameron Road each day, but her daily jaunts up and down sniper alley still put Tania Ellis in a “good place, a happy place”. “I stay pretty alert....

The Coastline Rugby League it breathing life into its dormant pre-season, 9’s rugby league tournament. And this weekend, after a 10 to 15 year hiatus, at least five of the regions clubs will compete in the resurrected Coastline 9’s tournament. “I...

Holdens aren’t cars, they’re a faith. And with that faith severely shaken this week, three Holden disciples have gathered in a cul-de-sac at the bottom of 17th Avenue with enough GM hardware to put a handsome deposit on a Tauranga house....

Be concerned, but don’t be alarmed. It’s a call for calm and perspective from a Canterbury academic after Tauranga was rocked by a double-fatal shooting, a running gun battle ending in a fatal police shooting and another death believed...

It’s been 15 years since Otumoetai College had a new rowing boat, but this week a blessing was held to welcome one to the shed. The waka has been named Kopurererua and was officially launched at practice, 5am on Tuesday morning. The school received...

  John – a McLaren Falls resident was out feeding his chickens when he heard gun shots on Tuesday.   He didn’t think much of it because gun shots aren’t unusual in the country. People are often out rabbit or possum hunting....

  It’s dangerous messing with superlatives – richest, poorest, biggest, best or rarest.   Like last week in the Weekend Sun when we featured Leap day birthday girl Ilma Shergold – she has a birthday every four years, and...

  He’s been to every country on Earth - 195 countries to be exact.   Chris Sutherland left New Zealand when he was 18 and hasn’t looked back since. He’s now back in Mount Maunganui visiting Mum but what got him travelling...

  A company which was refused a licence to open a retail bottle shop in the Tauranga CBD four years ago has again applied to open an off-licence at the top of the city’s main thoroughfare, Devonport Road.   And already it has run...

  She’s been in love with cue sports since she was a nipper and stood on a box to play eight ball.   “I have four brothers and a sister so there was always lots of competition on the family pool table,” says Nita Clarkson...

  The fairytale of the Billy Goats Gruff is being played out in suburban Tauranga.   In a real-life, but loose adaption, the mean ‘who’s that tripping over my bridge’ Troll is played by the out of character Tauranga City...

  The support groups run by Tauranga organisation Gender Dynamix have helped at least one mother to support her son be himself.   Gender Dynamix runs support groups for transgender and gender questioning adults on Mondays from 5-7pm and...

Squadrons of light aircraft, including between 150 and 160 pilots and their entourages will descend on Tauranga next week. And it will be quite an event. It’s the week-long Flying New Zealand National Championships being hosted by the Tauranga...

  Many residents around the Welcome Bay and Hairini area have noticed a new wetland taking shape near the Maungatapu underpass.   This is an NZTA run collaborative project where the expansion and restoration of two Tauranga wetlands will...

  Rebecca Penman has raised more than $20,000 to help with the wildlife relief in Australia and then headed to Victoria to offer her services.   The Tauranga vet flew into Melbourne and headed out to East Gippsland, where she was for three...

  It started out as a normal day for former cop Ross Bielby back in 2012, but quickly went downhill when he found himself in hospital having a cardiac arrest.   He was 53 years old at the time and says there was a lot happening within...

  Ilma Shergold, the grandmother, is younger than her grandsons. Go figure.   The boys are aged 25,2 6 and 30, or thereabouts, and Ilma, the grandmother, is only just turning 21. “They say: ‘wow Nanna, we will have to get out...

  Surgical masks are almost impossible to come by in the Bay of Plenty as people prepare for the impact of a possible Coronavirus outbreak.   Tauranga pharmacists, hardware stores and medical suppliers spoken to by The Weekend Sun were...

It’s a plant, not just any plant, but a plant with a story. And Roger Allen tells that story with deep affection and respect. “It’s taken 10 years to grow this Vriesea Bromeliad from seed.” It’s a plant of 30 or 40 centimetres...

    ‘I consider it a waste of money.’ That’s Vicki Coes’ reaction to the Welcome Bay slip lane and the recent redesign work done by the Tauranga City Council and the NZTA. It cost the NZTA $300,000 for the actual...