Auckland's Boring Day Out
Aucklanders will get the chance to see firsthand the giant tunnel boring machine which will complete construction of the two City Rail Link tunnels.
Auckland’s “Boring Day Out” will be held at the project's Mt Eden construction site on December 6.
People will be able to see up close the machine named Dame Whina Cooper after the Māori rights activist.
They will also view where the machine starts its underground journey next year, from Mount Eden to the new Karangahape underground station, then to the Aotea station in central Auckland.
“This will be a rare opportunity to see the star of New Zealand’s biggest-ever transport infrastructure project before it disappears underground,” said Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance.
Details about where people can get tickets on-line will be announced next week.
Ten visiting sessions will be held, with the first entry at 9 am and the last at 6 pm.
Visitor numbers will be restricted to 500 for each session.
Tickets are free and people can book up to five tickets per person.
People with wheelchairs, mobility scooters, prams/pushchairs and walking sticks are welcome.
Entry to the Mt Eden site will be via Ngahura Street near New North Road.
The walk is 600 metres long and the ground is flat but there are some uneven surfaces.
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Christmas Eve busiest shopping day of the year with more than 500,000 sales
Busiest shopping day of the year
Peak time 12 noon-1 pm - 563,303 transactions
Per second peak - 167 transactions
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Number of sales beats Black Friday, but lowest Christmas Eve in six years
Christmas Eve has been the busiest shopping day of the year with 9,745 sales a minute at its peak.
Payments company Worldline says noon to 1pm saw 563,303 sales recorded on its network, down by about 7 percent on a year ago.
The company's network covers about three-quarters of the electronic terminals in operation.
Worldline did not have a dollar value for spending, but the peak number of transactions was the lowest for the past six years and well shy of the record 679,436 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Earlier this month it noted rising sales in the first three weeks of the month, but they remained 1.3 percent lower than 2024, with most parts of the country trailing the previous year's spending.
Official data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed a small rise in spending on the previous month, to 1.6 percent higher for the year.
Retail spending has been subdued as households have remained cautious because of high prices and a slow benefit from lower interest rates, and as well as concerns about the soft labour market.
However, recent surveys have shown improving consumer sentiment with ANZ bank's monthly report showing confidence at its highest level in four years.
Boxing Day is traditionally the country's favourite shopping day, but with Black Friday spending also softer this year the amount going through retailers' terminals may also be down on a year ago.
Adding a dampener to consumer spending may be the recent rises in longer term fixed mortgage rates because of higher wholesale rates.
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Poll: Is it ok to regift something that you have been given?
🎁 Holiday Gift Chat!
Do you ever regift?
What’s your take on asking for a receipt if a gift doesn’t fit?
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79.1% Yes! It's better to regift what I don't need
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20.9% No. It's the thought and effort that matters
Scam Alert: Fake information regarding December Bonuses from MSD
The Ministry of Social Development is reporting that fake information is circulating about new ‘December bonuses’ or ‘benefit increases’
If you get suspicious communication, please contact Netsafe.
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