Jo Ferris discovers history and romance while visiting some of Wairarapa’s landmark hotels

Summer is on its way and volunteer surf lifeguards will soon begin weekend patrols to keep beach-goers safe. Tolaga Bay lifeguards will patrol Uawa beaches from November 1, Midway and Waikanae Beach patrols begin on November 14, while Wainui surf...

A parade to commemorate the return of the Maori Pioneer Battalion from the First World War promises to be a rare spectacle on a scale never to be seen again in Gisborne, say organisers. It marks 100 years to the day since part of the battalion...

Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz says council staff are working around the clock to address the fallout of devastating flooding in Tairāwhiti this week, with the reopening of roads being the main focus. Speaking from her home where she is...

A friend owns a large contracting business in Auckland. When I visited he was operating out of an upstairs addition to a 6m x 6m custom-built garage, employing almost 50 people. The business has easily doubled in size since then. What he told me was...

Can we please have more appropriate signage for the “Dropout” on top of Gundeons/D9 Hill please?“Seal Repairs” and “30km Temporary” signage does not “cut the mustard”, and is inappropriate for our local and outside traffic to...

Poverty Bay players involved in today’s Ranfurly Shield challenge will carry history on to Tikorangi Domain near New Plymouth. Poverty Bay Rugby Union chief executive Josh Willoughby presented Gisborne Herald editor Jeremy Muir with a Bay jersey...

Gisborne woman Ngatoia Skipper-Whaanga Pincott’s poster with the theme of whakapapa has won first prize in the E Tu Whanau poster competition.“I felt a huge excitement when I won. The support I got from everyone blew me away and I want to thank...

STUDENTS from eight Gisborne and East Coast schools will hold mock elections in September through the Electoral Commission’s Kids Voting programme. The students from Hatea-a-Rangi School, Tolaga Bay Area School, Gisborne Girls’ High School...

PUBLIC Health officials are hopeful that what appears to be an outbreak of Norovirus affecting 29 people at Kiri Te Kanawa retirement village will soon be over.“It looks like Norovirus, and is acting like Norovirus”, said Hauora Tairawhiti...

After years at Sonrise Christian School, Andrew Russell has dropped the “deputy” from his title and taken over as principal. Mr Russell succeeds Wendy Gabriel, who was principal of the special character school for 23 years. Being a special...

NEAR-flat conditions at Waikanae Beach yesterday reared up in the afternoon into big surf, combined with strong currents, and resulted in four rescues between Waikanae Beach and Roberts Road. As the tide went out and the surf grew in size, several...

TODAY is annual Restart a Heart Day and St John points to three steps that can make the difference between life and death for someone in cardiac arrest. Restart a Heart Day on October 16 is a global initiative aimed at highlighting the...

Friday night was a huge occasion for the King family from Motu and for Kristy Roa from Tolaga Bay when they received respectively the Te Puni Kokiri Ahuwhenua Trophy for excellence in Maori sheep and beef farming, and the Young Maori Farmer...

RURAL homes, farms, schools, doctors and businesses in three more areas here will soon be able to benefit from faster internet speeds, following a $1 million boost from the Government. Communications Minister Simon Bridges yesterday announced a $1...

Members of the public will no longer have to use a vaccine pass to access Gisborne District Council community facilities. The change comes into effect at 11.59pm tomorrow, and follows the government decision last week to loosen vaccine pass...

Hawke’s Bay man Ewan McGregor is writing a book on the history of Williams and Kettle Ltd and is keen to identify the location of a photograph he wants to win in the book. This image was captured in the early 1950s.“I have sourced it from the...

HE was speaking during the hearing of submissions on the council’s long-term 10-year plan in support of the Friends of the Makaraka Cemetery, who want to have headstones buried by the former Cook County Council dug up and restored. Spokeswoman Dot...

PASSERSBY acted swiftly yesterday afternoon to help a man working under a stationwagon, when the vehicle suddenly came down on top of him. It happened in the council's Grey Street carpark at around 4pm.“The vehicle was jacked up while the man did...

In the interests of journalistic integrity, I think The Gisborne Herald should do an editorial on the outrageous avoidance of any reference by the American media to the Hunter Biden scandal, especially the censoring of the New York Post story by...

BEACH patrols at Hicks Bay beach Onepoto, also known as Horseshoe Bay, begin on Boxing Day, December 26. Ngati Porou Surf Life Saving chairman Peter Boyd says the club’s volunteer lifeguards will patrol the beach for nine days during the busy...

Repairs and debris removal are under way as Tairawhiti recovers from the onslaught of ex-tropical Cyclone Hale. The inner harbour boat ramp will remain closed over the weekend due to safety reasons, Gisborne District Council said on its Facebook...

THE former visitor centre at Lake Waikaremoana has sparked further dispute. Advocates claim the Crown is demolishing it by neglect, and local Maori are threatening to occupy it. The construction of the new visitor centre, Te Wharehou o Waikaremoan...

Teenagers from Gisborne were arrested after an episode at the weekend that started with a car allegedly stolen from Gisborne and ended in the Bay of Plenty. The teenagers, three from Gisborne and one from Kawerau, are aged 15 to 18 years of age.“It...

Gisborne district councillor Malcolm MacLean denies he said “not enough Maori were killed” in an overheard conversation, but fellow councillor Meredith Akuhata-Brown is adamant she heard those words. Their conflicting comments came as the council...

An “incredible” night was had by all at the Eastland Rescue Helicopter Trust’s 14th annual charity auction on Friday. The event raised $123,000 for the trust.“There was an electric atmosphere of excitement in the air,” rescue trust medi...

WINNERS were announced in Gisborne’s first Gotcha campaign at an assembly at Te Wharau school yesterday. The campaign to promote safe travel to and from school rewarded students and their parents with a Gotcha ticket for good road behaviour. Tickets...

It would appear that our “Please do not dump your rubbish on the beach” policy is not working. On a recent morning ride taking in the stunning scenery of one of the best beaches in the world, I was left bewildered by the number of rubbish bags...

A big shout out to Maggs and Max of the Gisborne Fire Service. Many thanks for going that extra mile. What could have been a disaster was averted thanks to you both. You all do a wonderful job, especially in this hot climate with all your full gear...

The New Zealand Geographic Board Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa has opened consultation to alter the name of Poverty Bay, a name given to Cook and the Endeavour’s first place of landfall in 1769. The proposal to alter Poverty Bay to a dual name was put...