Minimum wage, no help and on the ladder at 25: here's how they did it
I loved talking to Courtney Mason about how she and her husband ben bought their first home. It really offers a lot of hope for folks who might be looking at the property market and wondering what on earth is happening out there these days.
Courtney and Ben were tenacious and bold, and now they're living happily in their Hawke's Bay home.
Have a read and see how they did it, and while you're at it have a listen to our third episode of First Rung, the podcast for first home buyers for a little more inspiration.
Share your New Zealand music memories...
It's NZ Music Month and New Zealand really has some beautiful songs from artists that we call our own.
Whether it's April Sun in Cuba, Don't Forget your Roots, or How Bizarre or Bic Runga's 'Sway' - songs have a way of unlocking memories and evoking old feelings.
In honour of NZ Music Month, share a New Zealand song or artist that is special to you and explain why.
Type 'Not For Print' if you wish your comments to be excluded from the Conversations column of your local paper.
Tauranga Council-private cocktail party
So-here is the latest news. The Council is to host a private cocktail party on the waterfront (not that private then) for 150 invitees to celebrate the city's transformation and progress. The list of invitees is secret (nothing new in that with the track record of the commissioners). Can Council and the commissioners be any more tone deaf? Having a cocktail party with, I assume, canapes when :
1. We are facing a 7% rates rise in a cost of living crisis.
2. Businesses have closed because of the "progress made"
3. We continue to to suffer significant inconvenience in "orange cone
city".
4. We have 4 commissioners who tried to subvert democracy by
asking to remain as unelected overlords at Council.
But really-a private cocktail party? On the waterfront? With, presumably, gates and security guards patrolling to prevent the riff raff getting in. Tone deaf.
And the 2024 Prospa Local Business Hero is...
A huge congratulations to mother and son duo, Mary and Sam Danielson from The Puketapu Hotel.
The votes for all finalists have been tallied and they have been chosen by Neighbourly members across the country as the Prospa Local Business Hero of 2024.
The Puketapu Hotel was nominated by a local called Margaret and the nomination reads:
'On Feb 14, 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle flooded many of the rural areas. Puketapu Hotel went under perhaps half a meter of water. However, immediately Mary Danielson and her son, Sam Danielson, along with their loyal staff pulled it together to cook copious amounts of food that without electricity would have been wasted. Throughout the years many of us have been treated with a pub gathering where we can reconnect and a free meal. At Christmas there was Santa, games, gifts for kids, donated patchwork for adults, an ice cream truck and lots of camaraderie.
This February on the cyclone anniversary, they again pulled out the stops to give hundreds of us a special night. We are all tired of the cyclone cleanup and they understood that it was needed.'
Such a deserving business and team, well done Mary and Sam. And thank you to all those who voted!
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