Pegasus Post: February 05, 2026

FOR LOCAL ADVERTISING
Jenny Wright
Ph: 021 220 3484
jenny@alliedmedia.co.nz
Smart tech rolls out at new Mitre 10
BY The GEOFF Star, January SLOAN 23, 2025
Finding hard-to-locate items
just got easier for customers
at the new Mitre 10 Mega
Prestons.
Electronic price tags have
been installed throughout the
store, The which Star, January opened 23, last 2025week,
allowing shoppers to pinpoint
products using their phones.
By tapping on a product on the
Mitre 10 website, customers
can see the item’s exact in-store
location.
A light then flashes on the
electronic The Star, price January tag 23, beside 2025 the
product to guide shoppers to
what they are looking for.
Mitre 10 Mega Prestons is
owned and operated by father
and son Tim and Miles Anderson,
who also own the Ferrymead
branch, which opened in 2007.
Miles The Star, Anderson January said 23, 2025 he was
blown away by the response to
the soft opening last week, which
sparked strong interest and drew
a surge of customers from the
north-east.
“The last three months has just
been chaotic, racking $6 million
worth of stock, hiring 80 staff
and getting ready for our grand
opening,” he said.
The site on Prestons Rd will
be officially opened this Waitangi
weekend, with special deals,
giveaways, live demonstrations
and the chance to win a $5000
store card.
The 10,000sq m hardware
and DIY store includes a drivethrough
and timber yard, a
garden centre, Columbus Café
and a super-sized children's
playground.
Anderson said their new
Prestons store was similar to Ferrymead,
except for the addition
of a new super-sized children’s
playground.
“It’s the latest playground with
a tree house theme, which is a
national design we’re trying to
implement at all new stores.”
Anderson said New Zealanders
were enthusiastic
do-it-yourselfers.
“The New Zealand dream is
to own your own home and
chip away at it. That’s why these
stores are so popular and so
successful.”
starnews.co.nz
starnews.co.nz
starnews.co.nz
starnews.co.nz
Mitre 10 Mega Prestons owner Miles Anderson and store manager Jo Eddy ahead of the new store’s official opening this weekend.
Above left, Anderson tries out the new in-store technology which allows customers to use their phones to locate the items
they are looking for.
PHOTOS: GEOFF SLOAN
He said the big box home
improvement retail model
started in the early 2000s.
“It was flagged that Bunnings
Australia was coming over here
and we had to do something as a
Mitre 10 brand, and that’s where
the Mega concept broke out.”
Anderson said their best selling
products were seasonal.
“In spring and summer it’s gardening
stuff like potting mixes
etc. Also outdoor furniture and
barbecues.”
But he said the top-selling item
overall was “probably the good
old 4x2 – builders buy a lot of
that”.
Stage two of the Prestons
development is expected to
start in April and will include
professional services and
hospitality businesses at the
front of the Mitre 10 site.
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The Star, February 5, 2026
starnews.co.nz
From Christchurch to Breakfast:
When Ali Pugh got the call
asking if she could co-host
Breakfast for the first part of
this year – before Tova O'Brien
joins the team in April – she had
a lot to mull over.
Firstly, there was the hefty
commute – from Christchurch
to Auckland and back again
every week – juggled around
the schedules of three young
kids. And then, of course,
the 3.30am wakeup calls
and equally unsociable bedtimes
that come with a role on
Breakfast.
With all that in mind, did
she hesitate? “No!” she says,
laughing. “I didn’t pause. I
didn’t even consult my husband
before I said yes.”
Pugh and Breakfast go back a
long way.
“Breakfast has been a part
of my life since I started as a
round-up reporter in 2009,
or maybe it was 2010. It was
basically my first real job in
journalism,” she said.
A few years later Pugh spent
two years as co-host of the show
alongside Rawdon Christie – a
career highlight.
“I love that there’s always
space made on Breakfast to
have a laugh and bring the joy
into people’s living rooms at the
beginning of the day.
“It’s a privilege to help people
set their day up. I’m thrilled to
be back on the couch. Well, it’s
not a couch anymore.”
True. In the 2026 version of
Breakfast the couches have
Ali Pugh is co-hosting Breakfast with Chris Chang, until Tova O’Brien joins the show in April.
vanished. In fact, the whole set
has been given an overhaul
with the previous theme we’ll
call “forest’s edge” replaced by
one we’ll term “urban dawn”.
The presenters sit on stools at
high desks now, rather than
lounging on sofas.
Said co-host Chris Chang: “I
think Ali is fantastic. That’s a
typical comment to make about a
new co-host but I mean it. We’ve
talked about how fun it would be
to co-host together, but it’s never
really been a possibility because
Ali’s been in Christchurch.
PHOTOS: TVNZ
“Co-hosting Breakfast is such
an all-consuming job, from
morning to night. Not many people
would have to engage with
another person for that many
hours in a day. So ideally you
want someone who doesn’t make
it feel like work.”
For her first brief stint on Breakfast,
Pugh was paired with Rawdon Christie.
“I love that there’s
always space made
on Breakfast to have
a laugh and bring the
joy into people’s living
rooms at the beginning
of the day.”
Ali Pugh
The pair met more than 10
years ago while working on
Breakfast.
Both now in their late 30s, the
presenters say they have led
somewhat “parallel lives”, with
both now married and raising
three young daughters.
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starnews.co.nz The Star, February 5, 2026
Pugh’s big commute
One difference is while
Pugh says she’s not naturally a
morning person, Chang is.
“Well, I’m not a night person,
so by default yes, I’m a morning
person,” he said.
“I can’t stay up late at all now.
I went to Ed Sheeran and I was
like, come on Ed, time for bed.”
For Pugh, the next few months
will look very different from
the past decade spent juggling
parenthood of Thea, 10, Heidi,
7 and Jemima, 4, with part-time
reporting on TVNZ’s 6pm news.
For one thing, she will have
a lot of time to focus purely on
work.
“Because the afternoons are
so hectic, the school pick-up,
then the chauffeuring to activities,
the homework, cooking
dinner.
“My afternoons and evenings
will look quite different now.
I’ll still be prepping for the next
day’s show, but I'll be able to
focus on one thing, which as a
mum you never fully can.”
Pugh will be leaving her
daughters with their dad Jo
Barus, a musician who plays
with Sir Dave Dobbyn and is
Some of the Breakfast team preparing the new set last week.
The long-time colleagues catch up in the TVNZ office.
able to be a full-time parent
on weekdays, with Ali back in
Christchurch for the weekends.
“He’s a wonderful support,”
she said.
“I think it’s good for the girls
too, to see their mum working.
Although I don’t think they’ve
grasped what’s happening yet,
they will when they see me on
TV.
“They’re very intrigued and
I’ve promised I’ll let them come
up to Auckland and visit the set
and sit on the seats.”
Pugh said the format of Breakfast
had changed a lot.
“The format is a lot more
full-on now with a lot more presenter
contribution.”
And does Chang have any tips
for his new colleague?
“God no,” he said. “I don’t
need to tell her anything. She’s
good to go.”
Riley Taylor is taking on this year’s Aotearoa Bike Challenge.
Cycling challenge
gets teens on bikes
Riley Taylor is gearing up for
a month-long cycling effort as
part of this year’s Aotearoa Bike
Challenge.
The 16-year-old has signed up
for the annual challenge with
his school, Riccarton High.
Open to riders of all levels,
the challenge also offers special
prizes for high school students
who take part.
Riley bikes to school every
day and visits the Christchurch
Adventure Park at least twice
a week, with his passion for
cycling very much a family
affair.
“It was my dad, Ken, who first
took me up to the adventure
park a couple of years ago. We
used to bike up to the top but
now I get an annual chair lift
pass,” Riley said.
“He hasn’t been going up
as much as he broke his
collarbone, but I still go up a lot
with friends or on my own.”
PHOTO: CCC
The Taylor family also
regularly use the cycleway near
their home, which connects to
the central city.
“Biking is good for fitness,
especially if you do it a lot. It’s an
efficient way to get places as you
don’t get stuck in traffic like you
would in a car,” Riley said.
People who register for the
challenge can take part as individuals,
or with their workplace,
high school or social group.
Every ride of more than 10
minutes counts, whether for
fun, fitness or transport. Points
are earned for every kilometre
travelled, every day participants
ride and every person they
encourage to take part.
Last year, 6133 people in the
Greater Christchurch area took
part, clocking up 1,218,074km on
their bikes. Of these, 674 were
new riders in the challenge and
this year organisers are hoping
for even more to join.
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The Star, February 5, 2026
starnews.co.nz
The Way
We Were
Prize-winning bookbinding and printing apprentices Mark McFadden, David Lawrie, Peter Jordan and Peter Smith in 1978;
apprentice shipwright Andy Copping repairing chains at the Lyttelton dry dock with Peter Douglas in 1974; Christchurch
Star linotype machine mechanic apprentice Richard Clements, winner of the Evening Standard apprentice award in 1973.
Apprenticeships once ensured
a job for life.
The apprenticeship system
arrived in New Zealand with
the colonists, who brought
with them the British way
of learning a trade from
experienced operators.
Regulation was introduced
as early as 1865 to try and
prevent young workers
from being fired as soon
as they completed their
apprenticeship, so their
employers could avoid paying
them a skilled worker wage.
The Apprenticeship Act
1923 set up local committees
and controlled wages,
hours and conditions. It
was overhauled in 1948 by
national regulations, which
made a technical training
component standard for most
apprenticeships.
Legislation was updated
again in 1983, but was soon
overtaken by economic
and political restructuring.
APPRENTICESHIPS
As unemployment rose,
manufacturing shrank and
Rogernomics took hold,
public institutions that
had traditionally trained
hundreds of people – such
as the Post Office, the
railways and the Government
Printing Office – offered few
opportunities.
From the late ‘80s,
apprenticeship numbers
slumped dramatically.
Training institution schemes
were introduced in the ‘90s,
enabling young people to
complete courses without
needing to find a job first.
Apprenticeships had a
revival during the country’s
Covid recovery, with extra
funding injected into trades
training schemes. There
was a 55% increase in the
number of apprentices
between 2020-22, with
more than 56,000 funded,
the Tertiary Education
Commission reported.
Murray Turnbull,
winner of the
Wattyl Award for
best furniture
finishing
apprentice in
New Zealand,
in 1978.
Canterbury Frozen Meat Company apprentices in 1968; Jeweller Kobi Bosshard
teaches apprentice Peter McKay in 1970; hairdresser apprentices waiting their
turn in 1971.
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1
starnews.co.nz The Star, February 5, 2026
GRAND OPENING
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PRESTONS

The Star, February 5, 2026
starnews.co.nz
CHRISTCHURCH
CREMATORIUM
FUNERALS
CROSSWORD
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9
10 11
12 13 14 15
16
17 18
19
20 21 22 23 24
25 26
436
SUDOKU
Every row, column and box should
contain the digits 1 to 9.
WordBuilder
WORDBUILDER
E P N
T R E
6
336 336
T R E
many words of three or more letters,
How
including
many
plurals,
words
can you
of
make
three
from
or
the
more
six
letters, using each letter only once? No foreign
How words or beginning with a capital are
from many
allowed.
the words
There's
six letters, of three
at least one
using or more
six-letter
each letters,
word.
only
including once? plurals, can you make from the six
TODAY
letters, Good using 12 each Very letter Good only 16 once? Excellent No 22 foreign
No words beginning with a capital are
words Solution or words
allowed.
335:
There’s
aba, beginning ABOARD,
at least
ABROAD, with a capital
one
ado,
six-letter
baa, are
allowed. bad, bar, There's bard, boa, at boar, least board, one bod, six-letter bra, brad, word. bro,
word. broad, dab, dob, drab, TODAY oar, orb, rad, road, rob, rod.
Good 12 Very Good 16 Excellent 22
letters, including plurals, can you make
Solution 335: aba, ABOARD, ABROAD, ado, baa,
bad, bar, bard, boa, boar, board, bod, bra, brad, bro,
broad, dab, dob, drab, oar, orb, rad, road, rob, rod.
27 28
29 30
31 32
33 34
Across
1. Shelf above a fireplace (6)
5. Having a rank taste or smell (6)
10. Grille (7)
11. Afraid (7)
12. Ditch (6)
15. Seedy, sordid (6)
16. Rumour (7)
17. Sprint (4)
18. Successor (4)
19. Item of clothing (7)
20. Prudish (4)
22. Listen to (4)
25. Holidaymaker (7)
27. Motive (6)
28. Morose (6)
31. Scottish symbol (7)
32. Banded, streaky (7)
33. Rue (6)
34. Be undecided (6)
Decoder
Down
2. Naive (7)
3. Spasm, tic (6)
4. Welsh symbol (4)
5. Floating platform (4)
6. Almost (6)
7. Blow up (7)
8. Delighted (6)
9. Theatrical performer (6)
13. Six-sided figure (7)
14. Of first importance (7)
15. Melancholy (7)
20. Equality (6)
21. Envisage (7)
23. Oval (7)
24. Strip (6)
25. Move unsteadily (6)
26. Small tower above a building (6)
29. Warmth (4)
30. Taken advantage of (4)
Crossword
Across: 1. Mantel, 5. Rancid, 10. Lattice, 11. Fearful, 12. Trench, 15. Sleazy,
16. Hearsay, 17. Dash, 18. Heir, 19. Garment, 20. Prim, 22. Heed, 25. Tourist,
27. Reason, 28. Sullen, 31. Thistle, 32. Striped, 33. Regret, 34. Dither.
Down: 2. Artless, 3. Twitch, 4. Leek, 5. Raft, 6. Nearly, 7. Inflate, 8. Elated, 9.
Player, 13. Hexagon, 14. Primary, 15. Sadness, 20. Parity, 21. Imagine, 23.
Ellipse, 24. Denude, 25. Totter, 26. Turret, 29. Heat, 30. Used.
WordBuilder
Enter, ere, erne, neep, net, pee, peen, peer, pen, pent, per, pert, pet, pre,
preen, rent, rep, REPENT, ret, rete, tee, teen, ten, tern, tree.
DECODER
Each number represents a different letter of the alphabet. Write the
given letters into all squares with matching numbers. Now work out
which letters are represented by the other numbers.
All puzzles copyright
T H E P U Z Z L E C O M P A N Y
www.thepuzzlecompany.co.nz
Sudoku
CHRISTCHURCH
CREMATORIUM
FUNERALS

starnews.co.nz The Star, February 5, 2026
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The Star, February 5, 2026
starnews.co.nz
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