I heart my hood
This month we are launching the I Heart My Hood Project. This is your chance to celebrate your hood by sharing stories, photos or video. We really want to see and hear about the people in your neighbourhood. Portraits or videos of our neighbourhood champions, or the people that to you personify your community or ‘hood’. This year we’re doing it a little differently. To help focus (excuse the photography pun) we’ve chosen three themes.
1 – I Heart the History of My Hood
Everywhere we live has history, and stories. Do you know your hood’s history? Or maybe you know someone who has lived in the community for what seems like a million years, and know the place like that back of their hand. Was your hood the birth place of the women’s vote, or maybe site of the biggest lamington ever made way back in 53′ ….(Yes I know, random, but honestly we’re interesting in anything and everything)… By the way – this is also an awesome way to get our older ‘story tellers’ involved.
2 – I Heart Diversity in my Hood
New Zealand really has become a melting pot and that brings with it the rainbow of diversity of all kinds. Maybe you have the ‘united nations’ living on one street, maybe your neighbourhood pot luck dinners are better and more interesting than an international food fair could every dream of! We want to see and hear about it.
3 – I Heart My Healthy Hood
With our clean green image, amazing fresh foods, picture perfect outdoor environment, we know there are neighbourhoods out there that personify ‘health’. Is your neighbourhood or neighbour one of them? It could be through a neighbourhood walking group, or a ‘from garden to plate thanks to the shared neighbourhood community garden’ kind of thing. It might be a neighbourhood that has committed to getting the kids off screens and outside, or maybe its a whole street of cross fit power vegans ….. probably not … but you never know. What ever it is, we want to see and hear about it.
To enter go to our website and ‘share your story’
So get snapping and chatting. We have more information on I Heart My Hood available on facebook and on our website.
Here is a link to our first posting - I heart my healthy hood by Heather of Glen Eden. neighboursday.org.nz...
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!
Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.
Will these roadworks affect you?
Don’t expect a quick trip between Cambridge and Tamahere for much of this year, because major roadworks are starting.
Asphalt works on that section of Waikato Expressway will run from March through to late 2026, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) says. Motorists are warned to plan for significant delays.
“Unfortunately the pavement, particularly in the slow lanes, has deteriorated faster than expected,” NZTA’s Roger Brady said.
Will these roadworks affect you? Tell us more in the comments (adding NFP if you don't want your words used in print).
Loading…
