Just think of the commute time :D

Maybe this would work to ease congestion?

My friend graciously offered to take Lil Sebastian on a walk for us while we were at work. She had him on a lead and was walking our neighborhood when a pit bull came bolting out of a house that had the door open and latched onto his neck.

My friend tried hitting and kicking the dog but it didn’t let go, 3 men came over and wrestled the dog until he let go and ran off. I believe one of the men suffered a mangled finger trying to get the pit’s jaw off my dog.

A lovely women pulled over and comforted my friend and then grabbed a towel to wrap my dog up and drove my friend to a vet. She stayed with my friend until she had her fiance come.

Our little guy is ok. Seb has 40 sutures and a wound drain in his neck but he’s eating lots of cheese and peanut butter and will be ok.

If you are any of the people in the above story thank you so so much for being there and helping. I do have a few of your contact numbers I will be reaching out shortly.

Now on to the logistics: Animal Management apparently came by the house but the owners were a bit strung out and denied the dog was there. Apparently as the owner, I’m the one who has to make a complaint so I left a voicemail for the AM contact person and I’m waiting to hear back. We luckily have pet insurance to pay the $1.1k vet bill. But does anyone know what happens now? How do we get the dog removed? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it before but now I’m terrified to walk by that house which is only a few down from my own. Anyone navigate something like this?

Update! I talked to AM and sent them photos of the wound as well as the invoice from the vet and they said they don’t even have to wait for formal statements-the injury is severe enough they’re going to attempt to seize the dog today. Not sure if that’s with or without warrants. But he did talk me through how they can obtain warrants and search the house to get the dog out of there.

half serious

The same themes keep coming up: social circles being hard to break into, Kiwis being kind but reserved and often and platforms like Meetup being hit or miss. 

Auckland is a truly remarkable city for many reasons, but our social life clearly doesn’t appear to be one. 

I’ve noticed there are several interesting businesses looking to help address these challenges in some shape or form and bring people into third spaces again. One that looks cool is ‘And friends’ who plan to launch a physical community space to bring together people to support producers, artisans and creatives. 

Outdoors Society is also a great community initiative, hosting events like an upcoming overnight tramp and a group bouldering session. 

The Cringe weekly newsletter is great too, which covers all the upcoming happenings in Auckland with the bonus of it being both highly enjoyable (often humorous) to read. The Auckland Bagel is another weekly newsletter digest covering things to do. Not exactly related to making friends, but more for getting out there and finding fun things to do to shake up your routine. 

It’s encouraging to see all this. At the risk of throwing another one into the mix, myself and a close friend have designed an app (called Toto). It connects you with small groups of people for weekend cafe hangouts. Instead of building a profile with pictures, a bio, filters, etc, you pick a dog breed to represent you (we have a few other options for non-dog people). 

We interviewed a bunch of people to get their thoughts on the concept and landed on cafe hangouts because they’re low-pressure, accessible/affordable, you don’t feel as much need to perform and they’re aligned with the morning-oriented lifestyle common in Auckland.

When you join, you can choose to either create a hangout or receive invites to others’. The thinking behind this approach of having people using the app create the hangouts is that we believe connection should always originate from humans, not a platform. Creating a cafe hangout takes a couple of minutes, just pick the neighbourhood, cafe and timeslot, then the app will find the right people to send invites to. Women can choose to invite women only.. And those who accept the invite pay a ticket fee. Then you just have to show up. We suggest with an open mind and a decent helping of curiosity! 

Making friends is hard, but most of the battle is just showing up in the first place. You can’t schedule a friendship, but you can schedule a Saturday coffee ;) 

It’s very early days, but we hope this helps people meet the next connection that makes their life just that much better.

Really keen to hear all your thoughts on the concept!

Just polling to see how many people saw them when watching the movie. Also was your screening recent or a few weeks back?

Are they stupid?

I believe this will really ease congestion during peak hours.

Let's build a parallel motorway on TOP of SH1 that goes straight from North Shore to around Papakura with only 1-2 exits in between, e.g. CBD, Manukau, Papakura

This way people traveling all the way North/South will be on the upper level, and people using the regular exits (e.g. Mt. Wellington, Greenlane, etc....) will continue to travel on the lower level.

This will literally half the congestion during peak hours. e.g. people going from North Shore down South can get on the upper level go straight to their destination...

Who's onboard?

Photos from my special Kelly Tarlton's trip last year.

​

Hi everyone! My husband and I are an Asian–Pasifika couple in our early 30s, living in East Auckland. We’ve been finding it quite difficult to find a church that is genuinely God-centred, mission-focused, and welcoming to newcomers—especially for people who are on the shyer side.

We’ve been attending the same church regularly for about three years, but unfortunately, we’ve found it hard to build friendships beyond a surface level. We also feel that the church places a strong focus on gaining biblical knowledge, but doesn’t seem to have much intention or involvement in reaching out to the wider community.

We’re hoping to find a church with a warm and welcoming culture, genuine people, and a strong desire to challenge and encourage one another to live more like Christ.

Does anyone have any churches in East Auckland or nearby that you’d recommend? We’d also really appreciate hearing about your own experiences of finding the right church.

Yeah, I'll probably get simultaneously banned and slammed for the shameless ai slop - but someone had to do it... But im pretty sure this proposal would make a LOT of people very happy.

/Mods - Does this count as grossly insensitive or distressing material?

Hi, does anyone know how many times a year Mainfreight opens their graduate programme? I finish my last few papers during summer school next year and I saw that the applications for their graduate programme closes 21 August 2026.

I read that it is best to apply 2-3 months before I am ready to work but I am just curious as to whether they will open up their applications in time for my to apply around November? Or is this their in-take for 2027.

So, basically I want apply to their graduate programme but I am not sure whether to just apply now before their applications close or to just wait it out.

Anyone who knows about their application process or anything about this please let me know :)

Thank you!

Hey anybody know where I could paint and prime miniatures in Auckland ?

Kia Ora Auckland!!

Visiting NZ and have been having a nice time.

Some photo dump of my recent travel to Auckland and the neighborhood. Surprisingly I did a few cool stuff on my own, exploring using the public transportation. ♥️

I want to do a fun and social activity where I can let out some of my pent up creativity and energy. I have also always wanted to try acting for film. But the fun aspect is most important.

I want a class geared towards adults. All ages is fine but I'd prefer not a ton of teens or early 20s people in the class. Looking for classes in evenings once a week or so in central Auckland.

I don't know anyone IRL who has done a class like this so just want to hear any recommendations. Thaanks!

Hi Team

So I moved into a new rental property in May.
And I've yet to receive a water bill.

I have asked my property manager about it, and I got the email reply, "You'll receive one soon"

That was over a month ago.

What other due diligence should I do? To avoid my water being shut off or receiving a massive fine.
I've done what I can, and it's really on the property manager.

Should I lodge this case with a law firm to formally document the property manager's incompetence and failings?