{"id":209516,"date":"2025-12-31T05:48:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T05:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/209516\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T05:48:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T05:48:08","slug":"new-years-some-of-the-northern-advocates-top-northland-headlines-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/209516\/","title":{"rendered":"New Year\u2019s: Some of the Northern Advocates\u2019 top Northland headlines in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI thought \u2018holy s***.\u2019 It was a massive great white,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a monster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hopwood nudged the shark with his paddle. It turned away with a splash and Hopwood made a break back to shore.<\/p>\n

Mangawhai woman Tina Johnson<\/a> was asleep on January 26 when a tornado ripped through her home, sucking her and the mattress she was on into its vortex. <\/p>\n

About 50 properties were damaged in the whirlwind, which had residents sheltering in wardrobes<\/a> and cutting power to many<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Stories of the community banding together <\/a>surfaced after the disaster, but it was Johnson\u2019s miraculous tale that captured many. <\/p>\n

Following months of recovery from horrific injuries, Johnson organised a fundraiser to thank the emergency services <\/a>that saved her life.<\/p>\n

Gourmet oyster farmer Shaun Gregory had been in disbelief back in February when he arrived at his farm in the Kerikeri inlet to discover 24,000 oysters \u2013 worth $60,000 \u2013 had been stolen.<\/p>\n

The oysters were the innovative and award-winning Aqua Mould Systems [AMS] Qyster<\/a> which has a distinctive \u201cQ\u201d brand on the shell. They were sought by restaurants such as the Plough and Feather<\/a> in Kerikeri<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"ShaunShaun Gregory, founder and director of Aqua Mould Systems.<\/p>\n

The thieves had used the business\u2019 barge to empty the oysters into nearby bins.<\/p>\n

Gregory said the sheer volume taken was \u201cgut-wrenching\u201d.<\/p>\n

There had been no possibility of claiming on insurance as it did not cover loss of produce.<\/p>\n

A three-bedroom house made headlines in February after it fell off the truck transporting it and blocked a Far North road for hours. <\/p>\n

What made the situation more intriguing was that when police arrived at the scene in Punakitere Valley, south of Kaikohe, the driver was nowhere to be found. <\/p>\n

People in and around Maunu heard loud explosions on October 21, when a blaze broke out in one of Whang\u0101rei Hospital\u2019s carparks. <\/p>\n

The blaze started with just one vehicle but quickly spread down the rows of cars, sending flames and thick, potentially toxic, smoke into the air.<\/p>\n

Rumours had spread as quickly as the flames as to what had caused the blaze. Most pointed to hearsay that an electric vehicle\u2019s battery had caught alight. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe CCTV footage from Whangarei Hospital shows once the fire starts, it quickly spreads through the long grass to nearby cars.<\/p>\n

However, a fire investigator confirmed a hot exhaust had ignited grass in the carpark<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Health NZ later released impressive footage of the inferno starting after the rumour mill refused to be quashed.<\/p>\n

There was no surprise news that the planned expressway would hasten trips to Auckland, which would be a hit with Northlanders.<\/p>\n

An investment case talked about in October showed the planned Northland Expressway will cut 38 minutes off the drive between Auckland\u2019s Te Hana and Whang\u0101rei.<\/p>\n

The new road will also reduce deaths and serious injuries on State Highway 1 by 66%.<\/p>\n

Kaiwaka couple Peggy and Mike Rangi have had 50 happy years together, including raising three daughters and building their house on the edge of the Kaipara Harbour.<\/p>\n

In October, they openly shared their experience with dementia as part of the Northern Advocate\u2019s series raising awareness about the condition and encouraging people to talk about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very, very lucky I picked it up. I knew something was happening,\u201d Peggy said.<\/p>\n

Mike was diagnosed early, meaning more time to understand what dementia is and how it progresses, and more time to plan for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always believed in trying to stay positive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"LoveLove is the key ingredient for Northlanders Peggy and Mike Rangi, as they live with Mike’s dementia. Photo \/ Michael Cunningham Photography<\/p>\n

Mike can easily recall stories from the past, such as his career with an international import\/export company, working his way up in chemistry sales, despite having no formal qualifications.<\/p>\n

Most days, he forgets basic tasks such as washing the dishes but, on bad days, he can be dangerous, such as accidentally opening the car door while being driven down the motorway because he confused the door handle with the window knob.<\/p>\n

Peggy, too, tries to stay positive: \u201cI have to remember everything passes, and this too shall pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Far North beachgoers were shocked when they found hundreds of fish believed to be koheru<\/a> stranded in the shallows and on the shore of Ninety Mile Beach\/Te-Oneroa-a-T\u014dh\u0113 in March.<\/p>\n

\" Just a small area of the bait fish shrewn along Ninety Mile Beach. Photos \/ Rachel Arcus<\/p>\n

The Department of Conservation confirmed the stranding was a natural phenomenon that occasionally happened along Northland\u2019s coastline, usually in autumn.<\/p>\n

Large predator fish \u2013 such as marlin and kingfish \u2013 chase and herd smaller fish into tight bait balls before attacking them.<\/p>\n

The smaller fish sometimes leap out of the water as they make an escape and can end up stuck on shore.<\/p>\n

Fish on the beach weren\u2019t the only phenomenon that captured Northlanders\u2019 attention, there was another one happening in the supermarket aisles.<\/p>\n

\u201cShrinkflation\u201d in the shops caused a stir this year as people tried to cope with the rising cost of living.<\/p>\n

Locals felt they were getting less bang for their buck at the supermarket and some eateries as products and portions reduced in size, while the prices remained the same, or even increased. <\/p>\n

The sentiment was felt nationwide as shrinkflation seemed to be increasing as businesses looked at the cost-of-living pressures, Infometrics chief executive and principal economist Brad Olsen said.<\/p>\n

\"TrevorTrevor Robson and Catherine Walbran penned a letter to their intruder. Photo \/ Brodie Stone<\/p>\n

Catherine Walbran was fast asleep at her Bream Bay home on March 9 when she was jolted awake by a strange \u201cclunk\u201d and an unfamiliar voice yelling in pain downstairs.<\/p>\n

She got up and limped downstairs, her broken leg in a cast.<\/p>\n

As she reached the door between the house and the garage, she saw a tall, hooded figure scarpering down the driveway. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was so angry,\u201d Walbran said at the time. <\/p>\n

However, in a remarkable twist, she and her husband, Trevor Robson, who had been out walking the dog at the time, penned a letter offering to help the intruder.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I would invite them around again. Sit and have a drink, or a coffee, or a cup of tea, and just work out with them what happened, and why,\u201d Walbran said.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the couple never heard back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI thought \u2018holy s***.\u2019 It was a massive great white,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a monster.\u201d Hopwood nudged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[836,37425,13038,35114,28701,6326,23437,42,7799,78,296,663,117,111,43,139,7977,1067,69,1118,127556,6289,544,6182,223,3010,9087,102,379,1530],"class_list":["post-209516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-836","tag-adversity","tag-advocate","tag-advocates","tag-awaiting","tag-biggest","tag-grip","tag-headlines","tag-heads","tag-in","tag-into","tag-looks","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-northern","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-quirk","tag-readers","tag-some","tag-stories","tag-the","tag-top","tag-triumph","tag-with","tag-year","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}