Northland news in brief: Horse float fire, Highland Games, Christmas events and more

It was a case of right place, right time for a firefighter who came across a horse float in flames in Maunu. Photo / John Stone

It was a case of being in the right place at the right time for experienced firefighter and fire investigator Roy Brickle when a horse float caught on fire.
Brickle said he was returning to Whangārei about 2pm yesterday when he spotted smoke coming from a horse float parked on the side of the road near Golf Rd in Maunu.
He stopped and took a brand new fire extinguisher from his ute and filled the float with foam, extinguishing the fire. However, it kept reigniting. A local resident with a garden hose managed to completely douse the fire. Brickle said a gas bottle feeding a small fridge at the front of the float had caused the fire. A woman had managed to take two horses off the float and was waiting for a friend to come and collect them. Brickle said it highlighted the need to carry an extinguisher in vehicles.

Waipū Highland Games

Planning is well under way for the 148th annual Waipū Highland Games. The games will be held in Caledonian Park, in Waipū, on January 1 and feature all aspects of Scottish Highland games, including the heavyweight competition, piping, dancing and track events. Organisers say the games will go a long way towards building up confidence and prosperity in the town, attracting crowds in excess of 5000. Details: http://www.waipugames.co.nz.

Christmas at the Marae moves

Today's Christmas at the Marae at Otiria Marae in Moerewa has had to move because of two tangi. The event will now take place at the Moerewa Christian Fellowship next to the BP station on Moerewa's main street. The time, 10am-2pm, remains the same, as do the attractions, which include giveaways, a talent show, face-painting, rides, a biggest tuna (eel) competition, egg and spoon races, a giant Jenga game, and a bake-off. Santa is expected to arrive in a Cadillac and pose for photos with the kids on a Harley-Davidson. The tangi at Otira Marae are for Herbert (Chappy) Whittaker Snr, aged 95, and James (Jimmy) Waetford Cherrington, aged 70.

Christmas parade and festival

The First National Roper and Jones Maungaturoto Christmas parade and festival is on Saturday, December 22. The parade starts at 4pm at the Good News Church and will then flow through town, finishing at the Maungaturoto Primary School. The parade will have full road closure. The festival after the parade will entail a food court, market area, dance and marching demonstrations, Circus Kumarani workshops, bouncy castles, dunking machine, Caterpillar rides, pie- eating competition, Santa's grotto, prize-giving for the decorated letterbox competition and the best float prize-giving, plus a few extra surprises. To register a float, book a stall or for general inquiries call Terri on 021 0222 0218.

Monday Markets

Monday Markets are coming to the Kaurihohore Hall as a way of building community and supporting local producers and crafts people. The Kaurihohore / Kamo Co-operating Parish received some funding from the Whangārei District Council Community Grants Fund to assist with hall hire and signage. The next market is on Monday, January 28, not January 8 as earlier reported, at Kaurihohore Hall, Apotu Rd, Kauri, from 9am to 2pm. For more details see www.facebook.com/Monday-Market-at-Kaurihohore-2179354265669617/.

Trail hub village

The new trail hub village at Waitangi Mountain Bike Park will have a ''soft opening'' today before a formal opening and blessing in the new year. A year in the planning and three months in construction, so far the hub includes a park office, bike rental shop and cafe. The successful applicants for hub businesses were Jonny Martin, of Paihia Mountain Bikes, and Tipara and Jade Morunga, of Letz Café. Toilets are due to be installed next week and a pump track will be built early next year. The Lotteries Grants Board and the Provincial Growth Fund helped pay for the hub.

Kiwifruit yield

The average kiwifruit yield from Northland growers in the 2017/18 season was 7481 trays per hectare, grown over 440ha of vines. Figures from the industry's national body, NZ Kiwifruit Growers (NZKGI), show the impact of the high-producing gold varieties which are replacing the traditional green crops. Northland Green crops gave 5779 trays per hectare over 109ha; Zespri gold and organic gold varieties yielded 8615 trays/ha on the 11ha they were grown on in Northland; Sungold, including organic crops, yielded 8044 trays/ha and were grown on 319ha.