Shout out to an awesome person!
I would just like to publicly say a HUGE thank you to Lauren from the Waimarama Beach Store.
I was out Waimarama yesterday with a van load of our Pakowhai School senior class doing a beach safety day and due to the fire we ended up having a bit of a stressful afternoon making sure we could get our kids out safely. We attempted to leave once but were turned back by the smoke - imagine this - 34 degrees in a van full of tired and hungry kids with no air conditioning and having to have the windows shut due to the smoke - not pretty!
So we took the kids to the store to treat them to an ice block.The store was a tad chaotic due to the power being out and no eftpos but the store employees were doing an amazing job. In the confusion of all that was going on I accidentally left my brand new iPhone 7+ on the counter 😟I went outside, gave the kids their ice blocks and realised right away what I had done, so straight back into the store. Too late. Some dishonest local (confirmed) had claimed the phone as their own. We then get the call that we have to leave right now as the police were going to escort us out, so all I could do was leave my details. We kept trying to call my phone to see if someone would answer but it was switched off, but then someone answers! It's Lauren from the store, who has gone round to the person suspected of taking its house and retrieved it for me. I am now typing this message off said phone as Lauren even brought it back into town for me.
What an amazing person she is and definitely took the sting out of being taken advantage of with her kind deeds!!!!!! Yes the phone could of been replaced but not all the cool photos I took of the kids at the beach that day, so THANK YOU Lauren!!!!!!!!
Poll: Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?
The Australian Prime Minister has expressed plans to ban social media use for children.
This would make it illegal for under 16-year-olds to have accounts on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.
Social media platforms would be tasked with ensuring children have no access (under-age children and their parents wouldn’t be penalised for breaching the age limit)
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Do you think NZ should follow suit? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts below.
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85.6% Yes
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13.3% No
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1.1% Other - I'll share below
Cleaning a heat pump
Hi everyone. Can anyone recommend a reliable and reasonable company to clean our heat pump. We used it on cold for a couple of days and when turning it back to warm it has a smell. We get it serviced yearly but the firm we use is expensive.
What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?
Kia ora neighbours. If you've got a family recipe for courgettes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our January 2025 issue.