Welcome toT“Living your senior years at their very best” OPEN DAYPh: 0800 868 548 (press 2)

or 09 435 4020Fax: 09 435 4021

Email: palmsvillage@xtra.co.nzHours:Mon to Fri 9am-5pm

45 Reed Street, Tikipunga,Whangarei

Come to find out what makes The Palms Lifestyle Villagethe best choice for your senior lifestyle years.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU!

THISFRIDAY28thMAY

Pre-presentation drinks & nibbles start 10.30amPresentation starts 11.00am

The heartof theNorth

WEDNESDAY, May 26, 2010 $1.20 ($1.04 home delivery, 93c with direct debit)

Is a 13-year-old girlTHIS MAN

P3

RESCUER8-year-old saveshis father’s life p3

Womanhands inlost$3500by Kristin Edge

If you found a bank envelopecontaining $3500 cash, wouldyou hand it to police?An honest Whangarei

Woolworths supermarketworker did.Staff at Whangarei police

station were amazed the cashwas handed in.And a visiting yachtie was

delighted to have the moneyreturned.Property officer Amanda

Beere was astonished to havethe cash handed in.‘‘With all the doom and

gloom it was amazing to havesuch a positive piece of news,’’Mrs Beere said.‘‘You would think there

would be a temptation to keep itfor some people, given theamount.’’The money was left near a

check-out at Whangarei’sWoolworths last Wednesday. Assoon as the staff memberrealised the money had beenleft behind she contacted thestore manager.A quick scour of the shop

and the carpark by staff failedto find the owner.Store manager Tim Harris

said the cash was taken to thepolice straight away.‘‘The staff member was

really surprised to find it andsaid if it was her money thatwas lost, she’d want someone tohand it in,’’ Mr Harris said.About 2pm the same day, an

upset woman contactedWhangarei police.The woman, known only as

Sue, had visited Whangareifrom Opua to stock up on itemsfor her yacht before leaving forVanuatu.Her friend had told her not to

bother notifying police becauseher money would be long gone,but she contacted policeanyway.‘‘She called to report it lost

and was heartbroken that shewould never see it again. WhenI told her it had been handed inyou can imagine her relief anddisbelief,’’ Mrs Beere said.It’s not the first display of

honesty from a Whangareiresident when it comes tohanding in large sums of money.Last year $1000 cash washanded into the station.The owner never reported it

missing and the money wasgiven back to the finder.On Monday, another honest

person had handed in $100.Mrs Beere does not

underestimate the honesty ofthe public, the majority of whomdo not adopt a ‘‘finders keepers’’policy.‘‘The general perception out

there is if you lose it, it’s gonefor good.‘‘But there are so many

honest people out there.’’

HAPPYENDINGTOWHALESTRANDING

HELPING HAND: Whale expert Ingrid Visser clings to the dorsal fin of stranded orca whale Putita while other rescuers help at Ruakaka Beach yesterday.

by Kristin Edge

FROM LEFT : Rescuers battled waves to free a stranded Orca, before he gave a flick of his tale and headed for the ocean leaving rescuers to celebrate. The fin in the background belongs to hismother, Yin. PICTURES/MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM

Whale’s mumand brothersurf in totry to help

A tear of joy rolled down IngridVisser’s face as a black and whiteOrca whale gave one last flick ofits tail and swam off fromRuakaka Beach.The experienced whale watcher

and Tutukaka-based Orca expertpunched her fists into the air andlet out a whoop of joy after abattle to free the adult whale,named Putita, from the beach yes-terday.There was a round of cheers

and clapping from the the crowd,which included Department ofConservation staff, police and resi-dents who had watched the rescuefrom the beach.The crowd had watched on

with some apprehension as twoother Orcas, responding to Putita’sdistressed calls, surfed in wavesperilously close to shore.It was Putita’s mother Yin, and

his older brother Rua, who riskedstranding themselves to get closer.But it was a whale tale that had

a happy ending.At 4.18pm a group of rescuers

managed to push Putita to safety.The whale had been beached fornearly two-and-a-half-hours.The relieve for Miss Visser was

evident.‘‘I got the call there was a

stranded Orca and when I gotdown here I knew straight awaywho it was. I’ve known this guysince he was a kid,’’ she said.‘‘His mum and brother were sit-

ting out there waiting for him. Iknow all of these whales . . . they

are my whanau. It doesn’t get anybetter than this.’’Miss Visser said it was not the

first time Putita had stranded andhe had previously been rescuedfrom Mangawhai.He was a great hunter and may

have been catching stingrays inthe surf when he got into the shal-low water yesterday and strucktrouble, she said.The alarm was raised by

Ruakaka residents Bob Slight andAshley Osborne who had been sit-ting on a bench looking out to seawhen they spotted a huge dorsalfin cruising south along the beach.Mr Slight said the whale had

been at the back of the surf whenit turned and swam straighttowards the shore.‘‘It looked like he surfed in on

the wave and then got groundedand was lying on his side,’’ Mr

Slight said. ‘‘He was makingsqueaky noise and then the othersshowed up.’’For Mr Osborne, the sight of

the struggling mammal wasalarming.‘‘I’ve seen them in the surf

before but never stranded. Theyjust seem helpless.’’Word spread quickly and

within minutes a group had gath-ered to right the struggling whale.

Brian Challenor waded in andwith the others managed to pointthe whale back out to sea.‘‘We could hear him whining

distress signals. We had to battlethe waves before we could get himup right. It was bloody hard,’’ MrChallenor said.■ If you see orca anywherearound the New Zealand coast, theOrca Research Trust would like tohear from you on 0800 SEE ORCA

INDEXNation................................5World.................................7Business............................8Sport.............................9,10Opinion..............................6Births and deaths ............18Puzzles............................19Classifieds................. 16-18

Germanflasherrescuedby Kristin Edge

A German tourist lost inNorthland sand dunes usedthe flash on his camera toattract the attention ofrescuers using night visiongoggles in a helicopter.Houhora Police Senior

Constable Chris Yarnton saidthe 20-year-old was part of agroup of internationaltourists who had gone to CapeReinga and had stopped at thesand dunes at Te Paki onMonday.But the German man

became separated from thegroup and became lost about6pm.The alarm was raised at

10.15pm and police and localfarmers scoured the area onquad bikes and four-wheel-drive vehicles.Mr Yarnton said he called

in the Northland ElectricityRescue Helicopter and nightvision goggles were used tofind the man who had beenactivating the flash on hiscamera.He was found uninjured

about 1am yesterday in aremote area of Te PakiStation.

WEATHERKIWI

Full weather and tides: P20