Rotorua Daily Post Year in Review: January 2019

Chance Eparaima, 10, cools off at the Rotorua Aquatic Centre during the city's heatwave in January. Photo / File

The Rotorua Daily Post is taking a look back at the stories of 2019. Here's what made headlines in January.

January 1:

Guide Huru Maika who showcased Rotorua's rich history and tikanga Māori to the world died surrounded by whānau after battling illness for two years.

His great-grandfather was the paramount chief of Tūhourangi at the time of the 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption, so Huru's whakapapa paved the way for him to initiate the guided tours at Buried Village.

He spent his last two decades as a full-time guide there.

Huru Maika was a long-serving guide at Te Wairoa, The Buried Village. Photo / File

January 8:

Rotorua woman Puti Ruhi, 88, is lucky to be alive after her car flipped and landed on its roof in a crash with another car on Old Taupo Rd.

Amazingly the only injuries she suffered were a deep cut on her finger, which needed five stitches, and minor scratches on her hands.

Puti Ruhi says it's a miracle she's alive after her car flipped in a collision on Old Taupo Rd. Photo / Stephen Parker

January 15:

Rotorua's Jewan Preet-Kaur is one of those who knows what it's like to have her life threatened for a packet of cigarettes. In March last year the Hillcrest Dairy store manager feared for her life when two men armed with hammers robbed her shop.

It was the second time in two months that she had been robbed and now Preet-Kaur believes the increased price of cigarettes will increase robberies.

Dairy owner Lakhwinder Singh (rear) with staff member Jewan Preet. Photo / File

January 18:

Wendy Nathan was first on the scene of a horrific car accident in the Mamaku Ranges. Approaching the wreckage, the pair initially saw three people in the car.

Nathan, who used her profession as a mechanic to see if it was safe to approach, said the car was "half the size it should have been".

Speaking to the Rotorua Daily Post, her voice wavered as she recounted what she saw.

January 21:

Some of the Bay of Plenty's most popular swimming spots are considered too dangerous to swim in but that has not stopped hordes of people going for a dip in contaminated waters this summer.

Data from Land Air Water Aotearoa (LAWA) shows seven Bay swimming spots, including the Ngongotahā and Utuhina streams, have warnings advising people to stay out of the water to prevent contamination.

Tukaki Henare at the Ngongotaha stream. Photo / File

January 22:

Suburban Rotorua retailers have had enough of beggars with some calling for a city-wide begging ban and others urging locals to refuse to give them money.

Retailers spoken to by the Rotorua Daily Post say they are pleased a joint Rotorua Lakes Council and police summer safety campaign is having a positive impact in the central city, but now they need to address what they say is a begging issue at suburban shopping centres.

January 29:

Two men spent five hours up a tree on a steep bank on Mokoia Island trying to wave down help after one of their surf skis sank during a paddle across Lake Rotorua.

It was one of several incidents that kept rescuers and emergency services busy this long weekend as visitors flocked to the city to enjoy Auckland Anniversary weekend.

Coastguard's Barry Grouby was part of a rescue team that plucked two men stranded up a tree to safety. Photo / File

January 30:

From powerline fires to sold-out icecreams, Rotorua is seeing it all as the second hottest January on record comes to a close.

MetService meteorologist Ben Noll said the mean maximum temperate this January was 25.6C which was 3.2C above the long-term average for January.