Black Sticks, Kookaburras and Hockeyroos coming to Whangārei
Some of the best hockey players in the Southern Hemisphere will face off in Whangārei this August for a place in the 2024 Paris Olympics. 🏑
Our Venues and Events team have been working with Hockey Northland and secured hosting rights for Oceania Cup matches: both the mens' and womens' Vantage Black Sticks vs Australia's Kookaburras Men and Hockeyroos Women.
And there's a special prize for the winning teams: they will qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics! Can the Vantage Black Sticks Women defend their 2019 championship?
Our Venues and Events Manager Bea Mossop says:
"The Vantage Black Sticks Men and Women teams will be out and
about in the community during the week, visiting schools and offering things like Skills Sessions to young players."
These matches will be held on Thursday 10, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 August at the ITM Hockey Centre in Kensington.
Match fixtures and tickets:
www.blacksticksnz.co.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.
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
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