The Northern Gateway Toll Road - the extension of the Northern motorway between Albany and Puhoi - is complete, or should I say completely disappointing and if I may go so far as to say, pitiful.

Ahhh the age of technology, so easy. Where would we be without mobiles? Handy, nifty, little gadgets that seem to fall to the bottom of your bag and you can never find them before they finish ringing.

17th February 2009 - I’m going to continue the New Zealand theme this week with a review of the low budget independent feature film ‘Hidden’ that came out in 2005.

I always thought they were exaggerating when friends told me about people who will only eat fatty fried slop, such as hash browns, plasticky-looking sausages, soggy bacon, battery eggs and tons of oil-dripping chips – all washed down with gallons of fizzy drinks like coke or energy fiz, half a teaspoon of which would make me look as if I’d slept with my fingers plugged into a power socket.

When you think of Hollywood, Ricky Gervais isn’t the first name that pops into mind and yet the self-described “fat man from Reading” is now a Hollywood leading man and one of its hottest tickets.

Travel overland, reduce your carbon footprint, sail away, blah blah jumbo jet, fuel crisis etc etc. All the cheap flights are beckoning but your conscience is disturbed – traveling is a selfish pastime.

Is anyone else shocked?

Building something from scratch or renovating involves stretching savings and making the most of our money.
 
Whether you are building a new house or preparing to renovate every project should begin with knowing what you can afford.
 

One of the most important steps in securing a home is arranging finance.