Cookie policy

This cookie notice describes small files and related browser storage used when the site loads. Some storage is strictly necessary to route requests, balance traffic, remember security choices or prevent abuse. It may be set without a separate preference where the site cannot function safely without it. Other storage, if enabled, can help measure aggregate page use, remember optional display choices or understand whether an error affects many visitors.

A cookie normally contains an identifier and limited settings rather than the text of the pages you read. Related technologies can include local storage, pixels or server-side identifiers. Their duration varies: a session item ends when the browser closes, while a persistent item lasts until its expiry or deletion. We avoid collecting more than the stated purpose requires and do not need a reader's name merely to show an hour page.

Where consent is required for optional analytics or similar functions, those functions should remain off until a choice is made. A preference can later be changed through the available settings, and browser controls can block or delete stored items. Blocking necessary storage may cause repeated prompts, failed security checks or forgotten display settings. Private-browsing modes and device-level controls provide additional choices but follow the rules of the browser being used.

Infrastructure and measurement providers may place or read storage while performing services for us. Their use is limited by our instructions and their own published terms. Browser signals and legal requirements continue to evolve, so a signal may not have the same effect in every context. We review the categories in use and update this notice if a purpose, provider or retention period materially changes.

Questions about storage or a privacy right can be sent through the contact page. Include the browser and device type, the page visited and the approximate time if reporting an unexpected cookie, but do not send passwords or complete identifiers. This notice should be read with the privacy notice, which explains purposes, disclosures, retention, safeguards and routes for access or correction.

The islands share one civil time, with the Chatham Islands offset by a further 45 minutes. Daylight saving usually shifts the relationship with overseas cities, which may change their clocks on different dates. School years are divided into four terms, and traffic patterns change during the breaks. Waitangi Day, ANZAC Day and Matariki can change trading, transport and public-service hours. Regional anniversary days do not fall everywhere at once, so a local calendar is more reliable than a national assumption. State Highway closures can require long detours where hills, coastlines or alpine passes leave few alternatives. Cook Strait sailings and domestic flights are weather-sensitive, so tight onward connections carry extra risk. Plan locally.