Christmas shopping will be made easier again this year with free bus travel on Friday 23 December 2022.

All BusLink and CityLink services will be free on the day, thanks to a joint initiative between the Northland Regional Council and bus operators; Ritchies, Leabourns, CBEC, Hokianga Express Charters and Kaikohe Bus Company. BusLink drivers and the team at Rose Street bus terminus will be spreading the Christmas goodwill with small giveaways.

The festive cheer doesn’t end there, as Beach Buses are back again this summer too.

Councillor Joe Carr, chair of the Northland Regional Transport Committee, says the Summer Beach Buses will run between Whangārei and Ocean Beach and Ruakaka Beach every Thursday from 22 December 2022 to 26 January 2023. The bus for Ocean Beach will leave Rose Street at 10am and return at 2.30pm and the bus for Ruakākā Beach will leave Rose Street at 11.15am and return at 2pm. The cost is $5 each way.

"We hope our community enjoys the opportunity to get to the beach by bus this summer, as well as visit whanau and friends or get their last-minute Christmas shopping done with a free ride on all BusLink services on Friday 23 December. Using the free Christmas Service is also a great way to reduce your carbon footprint."

Councillor Carr says that passengers should also check CityLink and BusLink websites and the CityLink Facebook page for revised bus timetables during the festive period. No buses will run on national public holidays.

More information can be found at www.buslink.co.nz and www.citylinkwhangarei.co.nz and at https://www.facebook.com/CitylinkWhangarei/

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On The Skewed Media Coverage Of Gaza

Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website which is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of how Kiwis alerted the rest of the world to the genocide in Rwanda. How times have changed ...

In 2023, the government is clutching its pearls because senior Labour MP Damien O’Connor has dared suggest that Gaza’s civilian population - already living under apartheid and subjected to sixteen years of an illegal embargo, and now being herded together and slaughtered indiscriminately amid the destruction of their homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals - are also victims of what amounts to genocide. More