CityBeat - Te Waha Nui Online

by Elizabeth Allan

Would you rather have nice footpaths, or neat grass verges?

Or would you rather have both?

Auckland City is spending $30m on upgrading the pedestrian part of our streets this year, and Crummer Rd in Grey Lynn recently got a makeover as a result. Read more

by Melanie Smith

Saturday nights are considered by many to be the perfect opportunity to get dressed up, have a couple of drinks, catch up with good friends, and party away the troubles of the week.

Last Saturday night was one of those nights.

It had been ages since I’d been out, therefore I was ready to party, let my hair down, and have fun with my friends. Read more

by Dylan Quinnell

A few weeks ago I was in vegas, Roto-vegas that is, writing for the Daily Post newspaper.

My three AUT colleagues and I were so busy during our field trip that we never quite realised how lucky we were with the traffic in Rotorua.

The worst traffic jam we encountered was a four car queue Read more

by Aroha Treacher

The ascent up the escalator and into courtroom one greeted me with colourful tagging on the walls, and a sea of faces waiting in the lobby.

As a Maori myself, it is a sad sight for me to see so many of my people in trouble with the law.

The Auckland District Court is not a welcoming place. Read more

By André Hueber

I was in Germany when Princess Diana died.

My grandmother told me, I thought she was pulling my leg. I sat glued to CNN all day mesmerized by the tragic news.

I had touched her hand once, way back in March 1983. And now she was dead, it was hard to believe.

Read more

by Michel Sam Mathew

It was a field trip that I had been dreading, but five stories and four days later, Thames and the Hauraki Herald won me over.

The slow rhythm of this former gold mining town with its neat cafes, wide roads and old churches was a big surprise for me.

Thames, located between the calm waters of the Firth of Thames and the majestic ranges of the Coromandel, couldn’t have been more different to how I thought it would be. Read more

by Beth Allan

I don’t actually remember if my grandmother made pie.

But if she did, I’m sure it would’ve been traditional and natural, with a tart kick softened by hokey pokey ice cream.

It would’ve been delicious but not so delicious, perhaps, as McDonalds’ limited edition Raspberry and Apple Pie. Read more

by Beth Allan

My head was usually buried in a pony’s mane when I lived in New Plymouth as an intermediate student 15 years ago.

Last week my head was firmly buried in the North Taranaki Midweek as I was on a journalism field trip.

So, I’m not really able to comment on the nuances of how the city has changed in the interim. Read more

by Andre Hueber

Seven students from the Auckland University of Technology sharpened their journalistic skills on a weeklong internship at the Northern Advocate last week.

All aspiring journalists from the AUT’s School of Communication Studies, they were on a quest to discover what it’s like working in a real newsroom. Read more

by Charlotte Coyle

When I first heard I was heading to New Plymouth to work at the Taranaki Daily News for a journalism field trip, I have to admit, I wasn’t too thrilled.

To be be embarrassingly honest, I have never actually been to ‘the Naki’ before, so for me the name only conjured up images of a small outlandish farming region recently torn up by tornados. Read more