New Zealand's first playing field dedicated to the traditional Maori ball game ki-o-rahi was opened at Waitangi last week by Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia. The field, a gift to the people of Aotearoa, was built by Bay of Islands sports club Ki-o-rahi Akotanga Iho with help from supporters in Kaitaia, Taipa and Whangarei. Ki-o-rahi is a fast-moving, full contact sport played on a circular field with a central target (tupu). It has only recently been revived in New Zealand but has been played in France and Italy since World War II, a legacy of the 28th Maori Battalion.

A gang of horsemen staging a train robbery was one of the highlights of Kawakawa's Christmas parade and festival on Saturday. Fortunately the heist was not real and the only loot the robbers made off with was several sacks of sweets, which were thrown to the spectators in a lolly scramble. The town's main street was closed to cars for much of the day and taken over by festival-goers, bands, parade floats, vintage vehicles and horses. The theme was a Kawakawa Christmas with floats based on everything from the town's coal-mining past to present-day efforts to save its public pool. Santa arrived - how else? - on a train. Photos by Peter de Graaf.

Paihia lived up to its reputation for hosting Northland’s most spectacular Christmas parade on Friday night, with a fairytale-themed extravaganza featuring Mad Hatters, gingerbread men, Hansel and Gretel, princesses, Patupaiarehe [mythical forest creatures] and a near-lifesize Peter Pan pirate galleon. Photos by Peter de Graaf.

The circus came to town for Kaikohe's Christmas parade on Friday afternoon when Broadway was taken over by hundreds of clowns, stilt walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and kids dressed as animals. The circus-themed parade culminated with carols and the ceremonial switching-on of the lights decorating Northland's tallest Christmas tree, a towering Norfolk pine on Memorial Ave. Winning floats in the education category: 1 Nga Purerehua o Matauranga; 2 Hillcrest Kindergarten; 3 Kaikohe East School. Non-profit category: 1 Kaikohe Speedway; 2 St John Ambulance; 3 Kaikohe Lions. Business category: 1 Passion8; 2 Hidden Treasures; 3 Tobin Plumbers. Photos by Peter de Graaf.

This year’s Kerikeri Lions Christmas parade was held on a Saturday afternoon instead of the traditional Friday evening. Another change this year was a post-parade festival on the Domain featuring bands, dancers, carols and a 12-metre-tall living Christmas tree, all organised by the Kerikeri Christmas Elves.

The circus came to town for Kaikohe's Christmas parade on Friday afternoon. The circus-themed parade featured hundreds of clowns, circus animals and unicyclists, plus some very dubious fairies. The parade culminated in a concert, carols and the illumination of Northland's tallest Christmas tree.

Pupils from the western zone competed at Poroti School yesterday for the chance to attend next week's Whangarei interzone championships. The top two competitors from each of the western zone track and field events will go through to next Tuesday's Year 4-6 finals of the Whangarei Primary School Athletics Association Championships at Kensington Park. One of the organisers, Maunu Primary School deputy principal Diana Hesketh, said the Whangarei district competition at Kensington was kick- started again last year after being mothballed. ``I thought it strange that we have regional swimming and cross country competitions but no athletics, so I thought it was about time we got all the schools of Whangarei together for a regional event,'' she said. The western zone includes Maungatapere, Poroti, Maunu, Pakotai and Maungakahia primary schools.

A record crowd packed Kerikeri’s main road on Saturday for an evening of dancing, music, fine food and wine in the Bay of Islands town’s annual street party. The popular knees-up featured featured three bands playing rock and jazz, nine Northland wineries, 24 food stalls offering everything from blueberry icecream to calamari-wrapped mussels – and a surprise zombie flashmob dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Now in its fifth year the event was founded by a group off B&B owners to give the thousands of out-of-town runners in the Kerikeri Half Marathon a reason to stay another night. Organisers put the size of the crowd at 6000 people, bigger even than 2011’s estimated 4000. Photos by Peter de Graaf.

Contestants in the Kids Can Cook competition and Be Free Talent Quest at the recent Bay of Islands P&I Show at Waimate North, as photographed by Peter de Graaf. This year's Kids Can Cook competition was won by Takou Bay's Max Donaldson, 9, for his sesame and ginger salmon. The dance section of the Be Free talent quest was won by sister act The 2 T's (Tihema, 12, and Temamaeroa Riwai, 8); other dancers to make it through to the finals in Kerikeri later this summer are Rosey Robb and Eleanor Gleeson. The winner of the music section was Moerewa 14-year-old Zoe King-Samuels; second place went to guitarist Micah van der Touw of Umawera and third equal to Kaeo/Kerikeri band Transition and duo Guy Yarrall (Paihia) and Arni Bailie-Bellew (Kerikeri).

Firefighters from the Kaikohe fire brigade and rural fire party, plus three helicopters equipped with monsoon buckets, fought a fire threatening two homes and a large area of native bush at the corner of Mangakahia Rd and Orakau Rd today. The suspicious fire started just over 24 hours into a Far North fire ban, declared at noon on Monday due to continuing dry weather and soaring fire danger. Photos by Peter de Graaf.

The weather played fair to a sell-out crowd at the IT! Festival in Paihia for the third year in a row. Headline act Dave Dobbyn was supported by Guy Yarrall, the Russell Ukelele Orchestra, Inertia and Mark Vanilau. Photos: Pam Harrison Boyd and Sandy Myhre.

Sailors of tall ships from the Netherlands, Britain and Australia were formally welcomed to New Zealand on Saturday with a powhiri featuring a series of challenges along the Russell waterfront, waiata, spine-tingling haka and speeches. The ships have just completed a race from Sydney; next they head to Auckland for a Labour weekend Tall Ships Festival. Photos by Peter de Graaf.

Thirty-five great Northlanders - ranging from Maori battalion commander Sir James Henare to All Black Buck Shelford and poet Hone Tuwhare - have been immortalised in a series of paintings by Northland College students, unveiled at Kaikohe’s Marino Court on Wednesday. The project was the brainchild of art teacher Chris Wilkie and backed by the Kaikohe Business Association in a bid to instill pride in the Mid North town.

You know it's the unofficial start of summer when the clocks go forward and ... the Artisans Fair returns to Whangarei's Canopy Bridge. The resumption of the popular fair saw thousands of people flock to Whangarei Town Basin on Saturday with an added bonus of an election lounge the first of its kind in the district featuring many of the candidates standing for local body elections in the Whangarei District and Northland regional councils and Northland District Health Board. Northern Advocate photographer Ron Burgin went along to soak up the atmosphere.

Readers have been sending in photos showing what they love about Northland. From, Saturday, October 5 you will be able to vote for your favourite photo here and be in to win a brand new Apple iPad Mini 16GB.

Northland women will be educated on "what not to wear" at a fashion conference in Kaitaia later this month.

Rainy day JMB Rugby at Kensington Park

Annual Educare Games, Kensington Stadium

Grizzlies VS Bears, Taniwha Shield Kensington Park, Whangarei

Sports action around Whangarei over the weekend

Russell's Birdman Festival cemented its place as Northland biggest, and maddest, winter festival with more than 4000 people crowding the Russell waterfront for Saturday's Birdman jump alone. Organisers vow the three-day event will be back, bigger and better, next year.

A record number of, er, ladies contested the drag race which traditionally opens Russell's three-day Birdman Festival on Friday night. This year's race was won by Simon Crabb of Whangarei, who took home $500 and the coveted trophy, while "Erica" Haagh of Helensville won the best dressed title.

More than 500 people turned out for the July 13 Kaikohe Community Firefighter Challenge, a day of demonstrations, contests and entertainment designed to boost the ranks of Kaikohe’s volunteer fire brigade. Activities included a fire truck pulling contest, a mock car crash, a rescue from a burning building, and a firefighter challenge for the kids.

Pupils from Whangarei Primary School, Kamo Primary, Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Rawhiti Roa and Glenbervie School took part in a range of activities at Pehiaweri Marae all about rejuvenation and navigation in the spirit of Matariki.

Opua held its annual ''Welly wanging'' contest on Saturday, in which competitors who managed to throw a gumboot the greatest distance went home with a swag of donated prizes and the coveted Golden Welly trophy. The challenge was hosted by the Roadrunner Tavern with the proceeds paying for repairs to Opua School's chookhouse. The chickens turn the kids' lunch scraps into eggs, used in egg sandwich lunches every Monday, and are a key part of the school's environmental ethos. The best throw on Saturday was more than 27m by Opua man Jason Linton. Prizes were also awarded for ''random acts of wanging'', which included landing a gumboot on the pub roof (not mentioning any names, Vicky Houry) and breaking the pub's outside light (Brad Batterton). The full results are: Juniors (6-10): 1 Anita Caswell, 13.28m; 2 Tane van de Donk, 12.54m. Juniors (11-15): 1 Brad Batterton, 16.22m; 2 Rachel Gorman, 14.41m. Ladies: 1 Anneli Sedion, 17.20m; 2 Clare O'Gormen, 15.96m. Men: 1 Jason Linton, 27.12m; 2 Wattie Whatmough, 18.78m. Golden oldies: 1 Chris Ball, 16.75m; 2 Roger Porter, 12.23m.

Young musicians from across the Mid North performed at the inaugural Be Free and Play Music concert, held at the Turner Centre on Friday night to mark the end of the first 20-week course of a new music and life skills mentoring programme. The winning band was Myriad Creatures (Bay of Islands College/Kerikeri High) with second place taken out by the Kaeo Krew (Whangaroa College/Kerikeri Primary). The top prize is a day in a professional recording studio.

Orca Research Trust volunteers Walter and Silvia Streit captured these amazing images of humpback whales off Northland's east coast on Monday as they swam from Tutukaka to north of the Bay of Islands. Marine mammal expert Ingrid Visser says at this time of year humpbacks pass New Zealand on their annual migration from the Southern Ocean to their breeding grounds in the South Pacific. Call 0800 SEE ORCA to report any sightings of orca or other marine mammals.

Weekend Sports, Whangarei

Oromahoe School held its annual Light Festival during the weekend, with the switch to a Saturday night plus perfect weather ensuring a record crowd. The festival of fire and light, held each year around Matariki and the winter solstice, featured a lantern walk, a sky full of flying Chinese lanterns, fire poi, a glow-in-the-dark mau rakau performance, music, kai and mulled wine to keep the cold at bay. Oromahoe School is just off State Highway 10, between Kerikeri and Pakaraka junction, and has about 50 pupils in Years 1-8. The festival is the school's main fundraiser of the year.

Whangarei Primary Schools Sports Association 2013 Cross Country Championships at Barge Showgrounds