Last column for tramping writer

For quite a few years Midweek has featured a monthly column from the Tramping Club, called "Making Tracks", written under the nom-de-plume "Billy Tea". A clever monicker for an informative column. Billy Tea is not one person, but "his" writings are the efforts of a small team of tramping club members. One such "Billy Tea" was Margaret Walford, who also supplied hundreds of the photos we have used over the years.
Sadly, Margaret passed away on Friday. As ill as she was, she managed to write the October "Making Tracks", her last effort as "Billy Tea".
Our thoughts are with Brian Heywood, her long-time partner, and with her children and grandchildren.
Margaret's contribution to Midweek and to the Tramping Club has been invaluable and many looked forward to the monthly column. She will be missed by many.
"Billy Tea" will live on through other anonymous writers and I'm sure we will see the Margaret Walford name on many photos to come.

There seems to be no end to the scams people will run to try and make a dishonest dollar. Received an email recently that says, "The incoming payment made to your account via internet banking was not approved. View attachment for more info. Thank you & have a good day ahead! Warm Regards, Westpac New Zealand Limited." Warm regards? Oh, how sweet.

How many people will get sucked into that? Especially when the email address it came from looks decidedly Indian sub-continent - Westpac New Zealand Limited

There's a pizza place in Anaheim, California that's taking journalistic licence with its product. The business is called The Pizza Press and their pizzas are aptly named. There's one called "The Press Cheese", another going by the name of "The Herald". There are "The Times", "The Tribune", "The Chronicle", "The Sun", "The Gazette" and one described as "newsworthy" - It's "Publish Your Own". Sadly, no Midweek graces the menu. The decor is Roaring Twenties, complete with quirky newspapers from the past. You can check them out online at thepizzapress.com.

It's not often I agree with Winston Peters, but he has hit the nail on the head when he says the New Zealand taxpayer is subsidising Auckland's development to the detriment of the regions. While smaller towns and districts suffer the loss of government offices, air and transport services, banks and employment, Auckland, and, to a lesser extent, Wellington, suck the nation's taxes into a maelstrom of temporary fixes and infrastructure that barely keeps up with immigration.
Aucklanders don't know what they're missing south of the Bombay Hills, but they seem quick to deride the opportunities available in the provinces. In an age when technology has made it possible for many to live anywhere and work by remote, there still seems to be a concentrated lemming approach to Auckland, where thousands of people stream into the centre of a joyless void.
Peters calls the regions the "Cinderella", so does that make Auckland the ugly stepsisters? When you compare the picturesque beauty of the regions to the asphalted urban sprawl of the northern metropolis, one can only agree.
Of course, Auckland taxpayers also fork out for what goes on outside their city, but most of the money generated by a country of four million is spent in a city that is becoming a huge sponge on the nation's economy. Yes, the city generates income, but so does the rest of the country. Regions have heard empty promises before about investment in jobs and infrastructure (got your bridges yet, Northland?) but Auckland gets the money.
A new building under erection in St Hill St only adds fuel to the bluster that is government indignation. Its presence implies Whanganui is receiving money from central government. What a shame it's for a building we don't need for a department that exists solely to mop up the mess created by the diversion of employment to Auckland. Next year there is an election and Auckland voters do not get to decide what happens in the rest of the country. Just saying.

This one missed the Whanganui Happenings page.
Save the Children is having an Open Day on Tuesday, November 15 at 25 Gilligan Close (off Purnell St) from 10am-3pm. A wide variety of gifts including souvenirs will be for sale. Look for the flag. All are welcome.

As of yesterday council meetings are being televised and streamed live via the council website or its Facebook page. This technological advance will be a window into the behaviour and contribution of individual councillors, as well as an insight into process and protocol. Worth tuning in, I'd say.