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This week we talk the concert yesterday, the slip at Moureeses, a safe speed on Whananaki North Road and plenty else!

It was awesome to sit down with Whaea T this week and find out more about someone special in the Whananaki community who quietly gets on with helping make paradise an awesome place and support those in our community who needs a hand. As soon as we arrived in Whananaki, Tracey had a smiling face, a big welcome and tons of energy. You can't miss her when you walk into a room she is in... chances are she'll be singing... but her enthusiasm is infectious and somehow represents t

A really special guest on Meet Your Neighbour this week as we met Mark Arrowsmith ! Mark, who now lives in Australia with wife Caroline and his family, was our fire chief for many years. Before coming to Whananaki, Mark was a senior firefighter in the UK, finishing his career working in the Department of the Deputy Prime Minister on the government's plans post 9/11. It was awesome to catch up with Mark, someone who's legacy lives on at the fire station to this very day. Lis

It was nice to stand outside and watch the Tiger Moths come in today, albeit briefly, with Barney and Fiona.  Donna had to persuade me out of the house. I really am an embarrassing hermit, but I’m glad I took the time to go and watch these beauties. Bright yellow, red, grey, blue - you could actually hear them before you could see them - buzzing like a bee with a chainsaw or an old lawnmower that had been tenderly maintained by the same hands for fifty years.  A hundred even.

Do we need a dishwasher at the hall?! Great wedding locations in Whananaki. The airstrip gets some special visitors this Wednesday. Whose our person of the week? And what could top the Al Brown raffle next year?! Listen below to Dallas Gurney and Jodi Edwards on Whananaki FM and join them live every Sunday at 10am.

Congratulations to MIKE BOON who won the Al Brown raffle today, taking home a money can't buy experience of dinner for four at Al's Whananaki bach with him cooking dinner of course! Well done Mike! You can listen below to the draw and us calling Mike live on-air. Second prize of two cartons of Tipping Point wine went to HEATHER WILKINSON and third prize of two of Al's smashing books signed by the man himself went to JANINE FRANKLIN. And best of all the raffle raised $11.5K

In the 1940's, users of Rockell Road used to have to open a farm gate to access Moureeses Bay and further North (photo, AI, don't get too excited it's not real) “Not in my lifetime.”  That was the answer my papa gave his 10-or-so year-old grandson, a young inquisitive Dallas, forty years ago when I asked whether the road to Moureeses would ever be sealed.   He’s about to turn 97, so it turns out he is probably going to be right. But surely it’s about time this bubbled to the

A pretty much exact (AI generated) image of precisely what a dairy looked like in NZ in the 1980's. I guess it’s good to be weaned slowly off something that is that addictive. That beautiful delight, a nostalgic comfort, wrapped in paper making life just a little more interesting.  The smooth surface rolling through your fingers.  Saliva glands sweating in anticipation. When I was a kid they were available at every corner dairy.  Every service station.  They flew out of this

Who is the funniest person in Whananaki? Why do locals on Kaiikanui Road need to wait for a pilot vehicle? Would you want a KFC in Whananaki?! Can you be buried at home? These questions and more on The Week That Was in Whananaki this week! Listen below to Dallas Gurney and Jodi Edwards on Whananaki FM and join them live every Sunday at 10am.

It was awesome to sit down with Daron Turner this week and hear about how he ended up here in paradise! From a trucker, to running trucking companies, then to being an entrepreneur in his own right - Daron's lived a fascinating life with family at the core. How was it joining the Whananaki-famous Donaldson clan? How did he meet Karla? What sort of a Harbour Master is he? And could we get rain back north of Kauri? Another local legend ticked off on Meet Your Neighbour thi

Samara Nicholas in her element! Smart, engaging and we reckon one of the most inspirational people in Whananaki... our special guest this week on Meet Your Neighbour is Samara Nicholas! Since co-founding the Mountains To Sea Conservation Trust at the tender age of 21, Samara and her team has grown it to a national organisation focused on inspiring and supporting grass roots conservation. It's had national success and acclaim, and now boasts a nationwide crew from around New

Chef Al Brown loves Whananaki and we love you too Al. Our mission is to meet everybody in Whananaki one person at a time and this week we're very lucky to have Al Brown on Meet Your Neighbour! The chef and entrepreneur spends every weekend he can in paradise after discovering it via Dave & Nicky Wilson from Moureeses Bay a few years ago. And it's pretty clear talking to Al that he's here to stay. Lucky us! One of our fave people in Whananaki and an all round top man, Al Bro

The Department of Conservation will also begin regular visits to the camp to educate campers. Whananaki FM reports on the issue. DOC has committed to more regular patrols of the Whananaki South freedom camp to educate campers as well as a meeting with locals at the end of summer to talk about the future of the recreational reserve. The camp has been in the spotlight again this camping season with overflowing bins, reports of anti-social behaviour, chocka portaloos and people

Yesterday I was assaulted at work.  I’m OK, I’ve got scrapes and bruises and a shoulder that can’t move much and goes click now which I’m sure isn’t right but apart from that, physically, I’ll head to the doctor today and I hope it won’t take much before I’m back to normal.  But the emotions are all over the place.  I feel ashamed that I couldn’t protect myself properly.  I feel embarrassed that my staff had to see me flat on the ground like that.  I’m angry that a couple of

Rimu the dog, found 3rd January 2025 near Whale Bay. Gordon Pengelly was on his deck at Whananaki South when he saw a boat floundering on Elizabeth Reef. Minutes later he'd be readying his own boat and calling upon his decades of surf lifesaving skills to try to save a man and his dog bobbing around in the water. Miraculously, he got the man. It would take five days before the dog would be found alive and well near Whale Bay. What a story! Gordy tells it to Whananaki FM...

A life well lived: Richard Coldicutt joins us on Meet Your Neighbour this week! As a 16 year, local artist and academic Richard Coldicutt woke up in a nightmare. His mum, dad and sister had died in a tragic and avoidable airliner crash on landing at Pago Pago, American Samoa. Richard tells us an extraoridnary story of loss, love and a life very well lived in this awesome episode of Meet Your Neighbour. Whananaki is a real special place - in fact, it's THE special place, for

Shawn Mahoney with a previous incarnation of "Larry the Log". Photo / thetrek.co We get some interesting walkers through Whananaki doing the Te Araroa trail, but we have never met someone intentionally trying to make it harder for themselves! Meet "The Logman" - AKA American thru-hiker Shawn Mahoney - who is walking the 3,000 km Te Araroa trail while carring a 10kg log over his shoulders. An inspirational story told to Whananaki FM while the Iraq veteran was stopping over f

Kids from the Greatest School in the World at last week's kapa haka celebration. Photo / Whananaki School facebook When the time came to sit down with Shaun Tepania about the new Whananaki School calendar this week, we were pleasantly surprised he brought in some extra special guests! Our Whananaki FM studio was chocka with kids who had all the details about the new school calendar, plus shared the plans for the school's final assembly, raft race and manu competition this T

It was an extra special Meet Your Neighbour this week as our two local police officers "Rado" and "Smiley" - that is Greg and Leon - came into the studio to be put through their paces! These guys epitomise great rural policing and are regularly seen around the community on the beat and talking with locals. We chat with the boys about where they grew up, what they did before they put on the blue uniform, about how they police our district and the challenges and opportunities