New Year Celebrations

Police gear up as year winds down

Party hotspots in the lower North Island are gearing up for an influx of revellers as the clocks tick down to 2007.

As numbers swell, police are starting to enforce liquor bans to ward off trouble and are urging holidaymakers to take care of each other this New Year's Eve.

Wellington city police have brought in reinforcements from Lower Hutt and Kapiti Coast to help deal with the 20,000 to 30,000 people expected to pack the city centre and Courtenay Place bars.

About 8000 are expected at the alcohol-free Rhythm and Beats family event in Civic Square, which kicks off at 8pm tomorrow. Acting Inspector Jason Ross said a liquor ban would apply to the city centre and to Oriental Parade. Gisborne is in the midst of a visitor explosion, with about 15,000 extra people already in town for the 18-hour Rhythm and Vines concert. A further 10,000 are expected to arrive today and tomorrow.

Tourism officials said shops and petrol stations had organised extra stock, and medical services had pooled resources. The city's 1500 motel beds were fully booked and most camping grounds had reached capacity.

Hastings police are bracing for the onslaught of young partygoers at the popular new year destination of Waimarama beach.

Extra police patrols will be visible in most coastal areas on the East Coast, including Tolaga Bay, where about 3000 people are expected at an R18 concert.

A 24-hour liquor ban has been in place since Boxing Day at Mt Maunganui.

Liquor bans are also in place in Tauranga, Papamoa and Omanu.

Taupo police began the new year crackdown on Thursday night, pulling in extra officers from the Bay of Plenty, Palmerston North and Taumarunui. They were unsure what to expect this year after the closure of the riverside campground, traditionally favoured by young revellers.

Senior Sergeant Tony Jeurissen said the camp had been turned into a park where the council would hold its free concert this year.

A liquor ban runs through till January 4. State Highway 1 through central Taupo will be closed to traffic on New Year's Eve.

In Palmerston North, a free family concert is planned in The Square featuring NZ Idol winner Matt Saunoa.

Wairarapa police plan a zero-tolerance liquor ban to cope with partygoers in town centres and the coastal settlements of Castlepoint and Riversdale.

Thousands are expected on Napier's waterfront for the annual celebrations and fireworks at midnight. A liquor ban will be enforced along Marine Parade.

- with NZPA

NZers resolving to do better in 2007
NZPA | Friday, 29 December 2006

New Zealanders plan to exercise more, achieve a better work/life balance and spend more time with their families in 2007, a new survey on New Year's resolutions reveals.

The survey from research company ACNielsen of 500 New Zealanders amongst a global survey of 25,408 people found that 37 per cent of New Zealanders were making New Year's resolutions for next year.

The most popular resolution was to exercise more - 71 per cent of those making resolutions were planning that.

That made New Zealanders significantly more ambitious on the exercise front than the global figure of 62 per cent.

The next most popular resolution was to achieve a better work/life balance (49 per cent), then spending more time with family (29 per cent), taking up a new hobby (25 per cent) and going on a diet (23 per cent).

People were more worried about cutting down or giving up smoking (18 per cent) than wanted to cut down or stop drinking alcohol (8 per cent).

More cryptically, 13 per cent of people wanted to avoid disastrous personal relationships, while 10 per cent of New Zealanders wanted to change jobs.

Relative to the above, have YOU made any New Year resolutions?

Me, I'm still pondering on it. ?

Hundreds arrested as new year begins
Tuesday January 02, 2007
By Elizabeth Binning

The new year has started with hundreds of arrests, a murder, a hit and run, two suspicious fires and the accidental shooting of a 13-year-old who is fighting for his life in Wellington.

More than 300 people were arrested around the country during New Year's celebrations, mostly at hotspots such as Whangamata, Mt Maunganui, Queenstown, Wanaka and Nelson.

Worst was Whangamata where 165 people were arrested after several fights in a park near the surf club, breaches of liquor bans and general disorder. One person was also arrested after three people were stabbed in an incident at a park. The injuries were not life threatening.

At Mt Maunganui, where 100 people were arrested, Inspector Karl Wright-St Clair said the level of aggression was higher than in previous years and there were reports of police being pelted with bottles. He said about 19 people were due in court yesterday on a range of offences.

Bay of Plenty staff were also kept busy with a hit and run which occurred in Mt Maunganui at 4.20am while a 16-year-old girl was walking along Marine Parade. Police say the girl was left on the road with serious injuries. The car was found parked in a nearby side street. Police were still interviewing its occupants and it was too early to say what charges they might face. The girl was in a critical condition in hospital.

Waikato police were called to the first homicide of the year after 23-year-old Gareth Pehina Te Huia was stabbed to death in Kawhia early yesterday morning. A 41-year-old man has been charged with murder.

In Wellington a 13-year-old boy is fighting for his life after being shot in the head with an air rifle while playing with a friend in Cheltenham, northeast of Feilding at 2.30pm on New Year's Eve.

Feilding Detective Chris Payne said the pellet entered through the boy's eye socket, missing his eye, and lodged in his brain. It would be two or three days before doctors knew if he would live.

On New Year's Eve Counties Manukau crime squad attended an arson at Nga Iwi School in Mangere, which caused extensive damage to a stand-alone building.

In Palmerston North police are investigating a suspicious fire at Ozanam House - a home for cancer patients - which caught fire at 5am yesterday. No patients were in the wing at the time the fire started.

In the South Island, a man, 31, appeared in the Christchurch District Court in a special New Year's Day sitting. He was charged with two counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, abduction and assault with a weapon after an attack on another man in his home on Saturday night.

Arrrgh!  Don't say that!  They'll cancel the holidays altogether if they think people can't cope afterwards.

Back to work a shock for many
10:10AM Thursday January 04, 2007

The reality of 2007 is starting to set in for many of us now heading back to the office.
There is increasing concern our mental health may go out the window as we start to deal with the daily stresses of emails and work.

The Mental Health Foundation's issued a raft of advice to help people cope. These include tips like bringing in photos of loved ones to help get you through the day, as well as decorating the office with flowers.

But chief executive Judi Clements says it is not a "one size fits all policy". She says it is about each individual finding their own way of coping.

Judi Clements says it is actually a serious problem. She says if people start to feel moody for a while after Christmas it may actually be a sign of depression and if it persists, they should consult their GP.

Judi Clements says we need to ease ourselves back into work rather than being swamped straight away.

- NEWSTALK ZB

[Glenda]

Blimey! ?They really must be running out of news stories. ? ;D

Husband in the UK says he hasn't seen the sun for days ... just one grey day after another. ?Now that is something to feel gloomy about!

::)

P.S. ?I have just found out that they actually have SAD forecasts for the UK! ?
http://uk.weather.com/maps/lifestyle...dex_large.html