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OPINION: Twenty years is a long time to spend in a New Zealand jail.

OPINION: When does a good time become bad? When 4000 young New Zealanders go on a rowdy Waitangi Day pub crawl through central London, according to expatriate travel agent Dylan Clements, who has filed a complaint with the New Zealand High Commissioner.

OPINION: Amid the predictable Waitangi Weekend warm fuzzies from Labour leader David Shearer – the "celebrate the positive", "be proud to be a Kiwi" rhetoric – one small aside resonates. And not in a good way.

OPINION: In the war of the roads – cyclists versus cars – it often seems that the first rule of engagement is, might is right.

OPINION: New Zealand is well used to Waitangi Day being politically charged.

OPINION: Was God responsible for the heavy rain in mid-December that caused so much havoc in Nelson?

OPINION: If the region's voters employ the same level of commonsense and diligence to April's poll on amalgamation that they, hopefully, apply to their own affairs, then the Nelson Tasman District Council will be formed before the end of the year.

Kerry Marshall can call on vast experience in a range of areas as he attempts to get the Christchurch City Council functioning smoothly. He has been mayor in both Tasman and Nelson, was president of Local Government New Zealand for three years and had four years on the Local Government Commission.

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Presumably the organisers of the still popular – if less so compared with previous years – Brightwater Wine and Food Festival will spend time around the whiteboard in planning the event's future. They drew some flak this year for increasing the ticket prices to $40, or $50 on the day. This was double last year's prices.

OPINION: School boards everywhere should listen and learn from the story of Nelson College headmaster Gary O'Shea.

OPINION: It is fitting that Nick Smith used his first speech as local government minister to focus on council spending.

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OPINION: What kind of person rips off their own grandmother?

OPINION: A month on from last month's devastating deluge and a clear picture of the full extent of the damage has yet to emerge.

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OPINION: Apart from the odd physical function that would be anatomically impossible, there is precious little that men do that also could not be handled – should they so desire – by the women of today.

With close to 30,000 names attached to an online petition opposing the Food Bill, it is no surprise that Nick Smith is seeking to hose down the issue.

OPINION: On just day two of the Rena disaster, Minister of Transport Steven Joyce acknowledged the risk that the vessel might break up because of its "precarious" position on the reef.

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OPINION: Kiwis hold their beach culture dear, and few beaches define one popular version of that culture more definitively than Kaiteriteri.

OPINION: As an exercise in testing co-operation between drivers and pedestrians, the so-called "courtesy crossings" built at strategic parts of some main streets in the Nelson and Richmond business districts are an interesting idea.

OPINION: There is something extraordinarily captivating about hot air balloons, especially if viewed from the ground. Serene, colourful, majestic; drifting in a warm summer breeze – they are invariably portrayed as the antithesis of modern transport methods, a quirky and romantic throwback to past centuries.

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One certainty of the aftermath of disasters like that which struck parts of Nelson and Golden Bay last month is that people's memories are short, and the scars and damage can disappear surprisingly quickly.