KEY POINTS:
Mayor Bob Harvey writes: "On Saturday when Waitakere City opened its new Eco Eel Bridge at Piha, the well-known Murdock flew this message in the sky for me and my support of the Piha Cafe and to cheer on National. Murdock, who I regard as the resident clown
of Piha, got it wrong both times. I was in Wellington at a surf meeting and Paula Bennett, the National MP for Waitakere, is crazy about the cafe. Now Murdock has to pay the pilot and the sign man..."
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Forget flash lodges for you next team-building exercise, Joseph Hayes recommends the Mega Mud Slide in Opotiki for some good old- fashioned Kiwi fun. "I have never laughed so hard or had so much fun in my entire life. Ladies with manicured nails, teenagers in op-shop getups, fathers, grandparents, kids, holiday makers young and old all lined up to skid their way down the country's longest and first recreational mud slide. The mood was electric. The slide is over 76m long, and much to the delight of excitable onlookers, it ends with a big splash into a pool of silky mud. The beach is directly opposite the slide, just perfect for washing off. Can't wait for next season - I want to bring the work crew for an end-of-year picnic and a bit of muddy revenge on the managers."
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Robyn took this photo to demonstrate the unmitigated gall of some people. "I was walking my dog on Friday afternoon and noticed a smartly dressed lady (30-something) drive up and proceed to unload some bags from her 4WD vehicle," she writes. "On my way back I took a closer look. It's all plant matter - her garden had a bit of a makeover, by the look of it. The bags were left at a spot where it doesn't front on to anyone's house so nobody would really notice. They probably won't go until next Friday (rubbish day in the area), and that's assuming the council accepts green matter!"
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Margaret has also witnessed a funeral crasher in action. "After the service for my grandma, we retired to the lounge where food was set out by the rest home staff. Much to our amusement, one of the more cognitively impaired oldies was doing laps of the buffet table in his electric wheelchair, eating at the table as he worked his way around. Fortunately, our family has a sense of humour, as did our grandma who would no doubt have been amused, so the wandering oldie was allowed to stay."
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Today's Webpick: A simulation of global air traffic over a 24 hour period. Hit the fullscreen button to get a clearer idea of the buzzing beehive the global airways have become. Watch it here. Scroll down.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.