My Secret Auckland: Heath Franklin, aka Chopper, shares his favourite places in the city
In this Herald on Sunday series, we ask well-known Aucklanders for their favourite spots in the city. Sometimes even honorary Aucklanders like this week, when Heath Franklin aka Chopper takes us on a tour of his top places.
Favourite beach?
I'm rarely in Auckland in summer, unfortunately, but I did
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My Secret Auckland: Tātaki's Daniel Clarke shares his favourite spots in the city
In this Herald on Sunday series, we ask well-known Aucklanders for their favourite spots in the city. This week, Daniel Clarke, director of Performing Arts at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, takes us on a tour of his top places. Favourite beach? There are so many beaches I adore here. From Goat
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
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Societal collapse deftly fought
Heath Franklin's Chopper was in Dunedin on Saturday night. PHOTO: SUPPLIED HEATH FRANKLIN'S CHOPPER The Last Hard B*stard on Earth Saturday, June 14 Regent Theatre Storming in with a chip on his shoulder, Heath Franklin's Chopper claims he has travelled back from a future where humanity has slithered into "giant pink slugs". The collapse, he warns, stems from an epidemic of arrested development: adult colouring-in books, budgie-brained influencers and drink bottles the size of "a submarine full of dead billionaires" all cop the blame. Dunedin, he concedes, might resist a little longer because locals still wander about in shorts when it is four degrees outside. Franklin controls this "bogan" mask with precision. The real Chopper Read's menace is dialled down to cartoon bravado, letting the comic satirise violence rather than trade on it. Years of touring means he now carries the character with nothing but a microphone and impeccable timing. That raucous facade grants licence to roam touchy ground. One minute he skewers woke fragility, the next he mocks apocalypse-hungry doomsayers. Some of his sharpest laughs arrive when the time-travel premise falls away and he attacks a simple irritation. A furious digression about men having to act as custodians of handbags in nightclubs soars precisely because it feels petty, real and unfiltered. An over-the-top detour into sex robots however shows how far he can push an absurd idea while still landing deft wordplay. Relentlessly profane yet linguistically nimble, Franklin's Chopper blends aggressive bluster with sly self-awareness. Beneath the swearing lies a plea for perspective: yes, you have problems, but so do 8 billion other people, and not every feeling needs a global broadcast. The profanity-averse may never be converted, yet for anyone who enjoys rough-edged satire, this foul-mouthed warning from the future proves the cult of Chopper is alive, mutating and very much in Franklin's hands.
1News
4 days ago
- 1News
Bikes on buses over Auckland Harbour Bridge to be trialled
Cyclists will be able to bring their bikes on some buses travelling across Auckland's Harbour Bridge as a trial of interior bike racks expands. Fifteen double-decker buses on the NX1 bus route - around a third of the fleet - will be fitted with a bike rack inside the bus. The trial will run for a year from July. It follows a pilot in November last year where two types of internal bike racks were testing on double-decker NX1 buses. Auckland Transport (AT) said allowing bikes on buses provided a "consistent service" for passengers using rapid transit services, as bikes can already be taken on trains. ADVERTISEMENT "By making it easier for Aucklanders to combine a bike ride and a public transport trip, it provides options for more people to use public transport," said head of public transport services planning and development Pete Moth. "Importantly, allowing bikes on the NX1 service gives cyclists a way to cross the Auckland Harbour Bridge, providing a more connected and accessible network." Buses with a bike rack on board would have a circular green cyclist icon on the front. (Source: Auckland Transport) The AT mobile app would display whether an approaching bus had a bike rack onboard, with passengers also able to identify if a bus has a bike rack by the circular green cyclist icon on the front, and the side of the bus. To make way for the bike racks on the buses, a few forward-facing seats have been removed and replaced with a bike rack and three flip-down seats. Additional handrails, safety hangers, and a seatbelt-type restraint for bikes will be installed. The wheelchair accessible space on the bus will remain the same. The trial is expected to run for 12 months.
