Waipunga, Taupo

1225 days ago

Apprenticeship opportunities available

Competenz

Are you or someone who know looking to start an apprenticeship? Check out our current job listings around the country!

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1226 days ago

Paint it red with Resene for Red Nose Day!

Resene ColorShop

Buy any red testpot from your local Resene owned ColorShop between 13-31 July 2021 and Resene will donate $1 to CureKids Red Nose Day!

The more red testpots you buy, the more will be donated! Offer applies to all retail purchases of Resene red testpots (excludes metallics and wood stains).

View more
Buy any red testpot from your local Resene owned ColorShop between 13-31 July 2021 and Resene will donate $1 to CureKids Red Nose Day!

The more red testpots you buy, the more will be donated! Offer applies to all retail purchases of Resene red testpots (excludes metallics and wood stains).

Help us make a difference to the health of kiwi children.
Find your local Resene ColorShop
Find out more

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1236 days ago

Stacy and Adam's Block heritage apartment up for sale

Colleen Hawkes Reporter from Homed

We think this was the best apartment on The Block NZ: Firehouse in Kingsland. Stacy and Adam did a stellar job, and now it is going to auction for a second time, on July 28. 2021. Great character apartment, great location.

1228 days ago

Supporting KidsCan is easy through the Trade Me Kindness Store

Trade Me

Hi there!

Here at Trade Me we're chuffed to let you know we’ve launched our Kindness Store again for winter, supporting KidsCan and the great work they do making sure our tamariki have a fair start – after all, little Kiwis can’t learn when they’re hungry, wet, and cold.

We’ve… View more
Hi there!

Here at Trade Me we're chuffed to let you know we’ve launched our Kindness Store again for winter, supporting KidsCan and the great work they do making sure our tamariki have a fair start – after all, little Kiwis can’t learn when they’re hungry, wet, and cold.

We’ve stocked the store with all the essentials. Think fleece-lined rain coats and shoes to keep kids warm and dry, and warm, healthy food.

Just pick, click, and give now – we take care of the rest, making sure your purchase gets to KidsCan.
Learn more

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1229 days ago

Updates to the RTA 🏠

Office for Seniors

Are you renting? Recent changes to the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) make it easier for tenants to make minor changes to the rental property and improves the security of tenure. 🖼️🏠🔑

See the full list of changes, including a template for requesting to make a change to the property, on… View more
Are you renting? Recent changes to the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) make it easier for tenants to make minor changes to the rental property and improves the security of tenure. 🖼️🏠🔑

See the full list of changes, including a template for requesting to make a change to the property, on the Tenancy Services website 👉bit.ly...

You can also read our story about the recent changes - and more - in our latest edition of the SuperSeniors newsletter 👉 bit.ly...

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1229 days ago

There’s the great outdoors, then there’s Ruapehu

Visit Ruapehu

Stay and play around our beautiful maunga this winter! Immerse yourself in wide-open spaces, epic activities, hidden gems, and untamed wilderness in the Ruapehu region.

The perfect place to relax, refresh, and have a bit of adventure.

Hit the slopes on NZ’s largest ski field or choose … View more
Stay and play around our beautiful maunga this winter! Immerse yourself in wide-open spaces, epic activities, hidden gems, and untamed wilderness in the Ruapehu region.

The perfect place to relax, refresh, and have a bit of adventure.

Hit the slopes on NZ’s largest ski field or choose from an array of off-mountain activities. So what are you waiting for?

Get over here and make it mountainside!
Know more

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1239 days ago

Age Concern freephone line 0800 65 2 105

The Team from Age Concern New Zealand

If you have safety concerns for yourself, or an older friend or family member you can call us for free and confidential advice and support.


There are many reasons why elder abuse occurs. It often stems from attitudes that are ageist, and disrespectful of older people.

The majority of cases … View more
If you have safety concerns for yourself, or an older friend or family member you can call us for free and confidential advice and support.


There are many reasons why elder abuse occurs. It often stems from attitudes that are ageist, and disrespectful of older people.

The majority of cases that Age Concerns work with involves older people living in their own homes. In most instances it is family members like adult children who perpetrate elder abuse or neglect.


Call 0800 65 2 105 to contact your nearest Age Concern

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1230 days ago

Holiday Music for Visitors

Mark from South Taupo

If you're entertaining music-loving visitors to theTaupo area this weekend, you might care to check out the Kinloch Music Group's ceili-style jam sessions on Sunday 18 July from 3-5pm at the Kinloch Hall, Mata Pl opposite the marina. BYO instruments, your voice or just sit back and enjoy … View moreIf you're entertaining music-loving visitors to theTaupo area this weekend, you might care to check out the Kinloch Music Group's ceili-style jam sessions on Sunday 18 July from 3-5pm at the Kinloch Hall, Mata Pl opposite the marina. BYO instruments, your voice or just sit back and enjoy a fun-filled couple of hours with music you're bound to know.

The sessions are held regularly on the 3rd Sunday of the month and are hosted by a local band - The Algae Blooms.

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1230 days ago

This week's latest Blueprint

Hamilton Harcourts

View Hamilton Harcourts' latest interactive Blueprint.

If you'd like to receive Blueprint in your inbox each week, subscribe here.
Read More

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1231 days ago

Coffee meet with Louise Upston MP in Taupo, Saturday 17 July

Louise Upston from Louise Upston MP

I'm planning to be in Taupo on Saturday 17 July and we are getting together at Baked with Love at 9am. If you are out and about, why not pop by and join us for a hot cuppa and a chat?   Hope to see you there. :)  Louise

LUN Press Ad 126x90mm (Baked with Love 17 July 2021).pdf Download View

1232 days ago

Well-traveled carer has experience but not the pieces of paper

The Team Reporter from Taupō Times

Sheree Petersen has had an interesting and full working life but a lack of formal qualifications is holding the 58-year-old back from finding work.
This, despite three decades working as a professional carer in England and the United States.
“I spent nine years in England, 23 years in Los Angeles… View more
Sheree Petersen has had an interesting and full working life but a lack of formal qualifications is holding the 58-year-old back from finding work.
This, despite three decades working as a professional carer in England and the United States.
“I spent nine years in England, 23 years in Los Angeles and then I got the offer of a lifetime to go to Hawaii, my flight would be paid, I would have my own room, own bathroom, floor to ceiling ocean views, convertible Camaro and to name my price. And this man had two weeks to two months to live and with my sole care he lived for another seven and a half years.

“Now I can’t get a job because it’s all agencies... I don’t have any piece of paper that says I have the qualifications.”

Her experience has made her contemplative rather than bitter.

“My message to young people today is that school doesn’t work for all of us, but if you find what you love, some kind of employment that’s never like working... do it well and you get better at it.”

She was hopeful for herself and others, she said.

“I am currently homeless, from having an awesome, awesome life and travelling, I have come back to New Zealand to a very different scene. And I am starting from the bottom again, but I definitely know this is not a forever situation... I think going through this gives one humility, so when you are up to the next level and the next, you are better able to help other people because you identify.”

Petersen’s father drowned when her mother was pregnant with her, she said, and she moved to Taupō in her early teens to escape an abusive step-father.

She soon left school and found a job at stationers and toy store Leisure Time.

“I drank after hours and in the weekends rather excessively. I never drank to enjoy a drink. I drank for the oblivion it would give me from what I didn’t want to remember.”

At 16 or 17, she was sent to Hanmer Springs.

“I hitch-hiked down there. Truck drivers picked me up… It was a whole lot safer than now.”

Since that short two months of treatment in the early 1980s, she has not drunk since.

But a desire to then study nursing fell flat when she wasn’t accepted into the small class at Tauranga Hospital.

“At that time I just saw death or jail. I didn’t see my life going forward.”

However an invitation from an old friend to visit England set her up.

“I had enough money for a one-way ticket… and I clearly remember my mother saying ‘if you get in trouble over there don’t think you’re calling us’.

“Next thing I remember is sitting on the plane saying ‘my life, my rules’ so that was the beginning of some awesome decisions.”

She even bumped into Elton John while working in the private Princess Margaret Hospital in Windsor, just outside of London.

“Even though I didn’t get accepted for nursing here I pursued that path… because I loved what I was doing I asked questions, I showed initiative. And after nine years in England I went on to America and worked in a private hospital in the operating room because of the experience I had.”

Eventually she ended up taking care of people in their own homes, including a doctor’s wife who had fallen off her bike and been in a coma for three months.

“She had a catheter, a feeding tube and a tracheotomy, her eyes couldn’t focus. The husband wanted to bring her home, there was nothing more they could do.”

Petersen cared for her for nine months - “longer than anybody had expected.”

And her reputation led to the offer in Hawaii.

“They said this man had suspected lung cancer, hadn’t been to the doctor in years, had congestive heart failure, a brain aneurysm and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, he was 50 pound underweight and he was six three.

“He lived for seven and a half years and he didn’t die of lung cancer, he had an aortic aneurysm.”

Coming back to New Zealand though hasn’t really met her expectations.

“I was brought up in the Maori culture and it was being among the Hawaians that gave me the desire to come home. If I’d known then what I know now I wouldn’t have come,” she said with a wry smile.

After 18 months in Tauranga she’s treating a return to Taupō as an opportunity.

“What’s happened, has happened, it can’t be undone… how we think about it and the attention we give it, we have the power to change...

“I really want to use what I feel is a gift. I don’t have the pieces of paper but I have a wealth of experience and I’m really looking to help somebody to be able to stay in their own home, be that private carer to help in whatever way is needed.”

Sheree Petersen can be contacted on 021 090 00099.

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1231 days ago

Do you know a greenfingered hero in your community?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

NZ Gardener is again looking for greenfingered good sorts – individuals or groups who have used gardening skills to help other people. Five finalists will feature in the October magazine and one will go on to become 2021 Gardener of the Year! There are some amazing prizes up for grabs so if you … View moreNZ Gardener is again looking for greenfingered good sorts – individuals or groups who have used gardening skills to help other people. Five finalists will feature in the October magazine and one will go on to become 2021 Gardener of the Year! There are some amazing prizes up for grabs so if you know a homegrown hero who is using their gardening skills for good, nominate them now!

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1231 days ago

Half Price Pay Monthly plans!

Heathcotes

Looking to upgrade your phone? Join an eligible 2Degrees Pay Monthly plan with Heathcote Appliances this month and get 50% off for the first 3 months.*

Get unlimited calls & texts & choose between endless or carryover data. PLUS, all pay monthly plans come with a free data hour each day!… View more
Looking to upgrade your phone? Join an eligible 2Degrees Pay Monthly plan with Heathcote Appliances this month and get 50% off for the first 3 months.*

Get unlimited calls & texts & choose between endless or carryover data. PLUS, all pay monthly plans come with a free data hour each day!

Come and see us at one of our four Waikato stores to explore our huge range of models – including the latest from the big brands like Apple, Oppo & Samsung.
Shop now

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1232 days ago

No barriers to learning

Competenz

"Being deaf is no barrier to learning and seeing someone like me achieving qualifications and working in a job that has a lot of responsibility has hopefully encouraged them to give it a go.”

When Erich Krogmann started the Food and Beverage Level 2 qualification, he had to learn how to … View more
"Being deaf is no barrier to learning and seeing someone like me achieving qualifications and working in a job that has a lot of responsibility has hopefully encouraged them to give it a go.”

When Erich Krogmann started the Food and Beverage Level 2 qualification, he had to learn how to balance study with a night job and a young family, but his main challenge came in the form of his hearing disability.

Erich says he thinks he’s inspired other people with a disability to take on training.
Read Erichs full story here

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1232 days ago

No barriers to learning

Competenz

"Being deaf is no barrier to learning and seeing someone like me achieving qualifications and working in a job that has a lot of responsibility has hopefully encouraged them to give it a go.”

When Erich Krogmann started the Food and Beverage Level 2 qualification, he had to learn how to … View more
"Being deaf is no barrier to learning and seeing someone like me achieving qualifications and working in a job that has a lot of responsibility has hopefully encouraged them to give it a go.”

When Erich Krogmann started the Food and Beverage Level 2 qualification, he had to learn how to balance study with a night job and a young family, but his main challenge came in the form of his hearing disability.

Erich says he thinks he’s inspired other people with a disability to take on training.
Read Erichs full story here

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