This year Gore elected the country's youngest ever mayor, when Ben Bell, aged 23, won the mayoralty by just 8 votes. Ben Bell edged out the six-term incumbent, Tracy Hicks. Despite his youth, Ben has a varied background, with previous jobs in the Horizons Regional Council, and has started several successful businesses.

The adventuring began a few years ago when Brad Ryan realised his Ohio based Grandmother, Joy Ryan had never seen a mountain. A plan was hatched for them to visit all 63 US national parks. Now aged 92, Joy and grandson Brad have almost completed the mission. You can follow their journey on instragram @grandmajoysroadtrip

A free roast meal over a chat about mental health is on offer for all-male flats of Canterbury University students by the not-for-profit group Lads Without Labels. The student-led initiative was launched a couple of years ago to support young men's emotional and physical well-being.

Chris is along with the favourite things he's watched this year, his top 10.

Family dynamics, dealing with in-laws, persuasion fatigue and sheer exhaustion can make for stressful holidays for many. Psychologist Sarb Johal says it can help to prepare like a professional athlete for "game day", anticipating triggers and preparing strategies. He shares his tips for coping with the festive season.

Technology journalist Bill Bennett takes a look at some of the biggest technology stories of the year : The sale of Twitter to Elon Musk, Meta, Amazon and other big tech companies laying off thousands of people. Bill says the international stories are downbeat, the local ones are much more positive. They include 2degrees merging with Vocus, and the second stage of the UFB fibre project completed this month, meaning 87 per cent of the population can get fibre broadband.

Cynthia Morahan reviews Greedy Cat's Christmas by Joy Cowley, published by The CopyPress

This winter and spring have had the highest ever recorded rainfall for Whakatane district, and council staff have reported costs of damage to roads and reserves as being over $2.8 million, resulting in a shortfall in planned capital funding for next year. Diane also talks to Kathryn about why popular summer attraction, the Ohope Water Slide has been closed for two days, and over recent months a roaming dog, or dogs have been killing pets in a 1km square block of town. Diane McCarthy is the Eastern Bay of Plenty Local Democracy Reporter.

The most historic moment of the year was the death of Elizabeth II and the accession of Charles III. For many people in Britain this was a moment to pause and take stock of the country's history and start asking questions about the future. Hugo also reflects on the year of total chaos in Westminster, which included three Prime Ministers : Boris Johnson's demise, Liz Truss's seven week reign and ended up with Rishi Sunak at the helm. And like most of the rest of the world, the UK has been badly affected by inflation which has led to what is expected to be the biggest fall in living standards for decades.

A recent report by the Economic and Social Research Institute has found Britain's economy has been seriously bruised by its exit from the European Union in January 2020. Trade between the UK and the EU is down by almost a fifth relative to forecasts had Brexit never happened. The rising price of imported food, labour shortages, including specialist doctors and truck drivers are also attributed to the split. Brexit has cost the UK £33 b in lost trade and investment, according to a new study from the Centre for European Reform, which finds the economic damage is worse than expected. A recent YouGov poll showed 56% of Britons thought they were wrong to leave the EU. 32% think they were right. Kathryn speaks with Jonathan Portes who is professor of economics at King's College London, and former director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.