Piopio is a small friendly rural community.

You'll find us approximately half way between Hamilton and New Plymouth.
We are an excellent base from which to make daytrips to beaches, waterfalls, Mokau River, Lake Taupo, Mt Ruapehu, Waitomo Caves, Pureora Forest, etc, Hamilton, Te Awamutu, and New Plymouth.
We have excellent schools, Churches, many interest groups, friendly accommodation, all necessities for the travelling public, the last Service Station for many miles south, and the only vehicle bake-oven in the Waitomo District.

I became aware that although several people and businesses in Piopio have websites, there was no connection between them –
nothing saying to the internet world, *This Is Piopio*,
able to give up-to-the-minute information about what is happening here.

This website aims to become a comprehensive representation of the businesses, clubs, farmstays, activities and attractions available in or near our lovely district, and a source of current information for both locals and visitors. It is my Service to the Community, in association with the Piopio Business and Enterprise Trust, (PBET).
It is already expanding to include :-
www.in-piopio.co.nz which is intimately linked with this site,
sister sites for the neighbouring towns, Te Kuiti and Taumarunui;
and a Travel site giving photos and linking to information about travelling to other places in New Zealand.
If you have a business, club, or anything of interest to people who live or might visit, this wider district,
please contact Gaynor McCartney - e-mail or Ph 07 8778372.

The Directory/Links pages contain Alphabetical Categorised lists.
Free Listing provides basic contact information for each client.
A small annual fee is charged for more detailed descriptions, and Individual webpages with their own URLs ("web-addresses"). Eg The URL for "Your page" will be www.yourpage.piopionz.com or www.yourpage.in-piopio.co.nz etc.
I design, upload, and manage these web-pages and internet photo albums for clients associated with Piopio, Te Kuiti, and Taumarunui (being developed).
(There will of course be no porn etc allowed here)
This service makes internet presence affordable within any budget.

Information for the PiopioNZ Noticeboard, can be sent to me, Gaynor,
by private messages or e-mails from links there.
We have an e-mail list where members can advertise, tell and hear about events, etc. (It sends e-mails to each member.)
Links to local media and blogs are also located on on the News page.

I decided to set up this site when I had difficulty finding out who to contact for what.
Having completed its first year in April 07, and with Margaret Arndt now helping with research and contacting people, it is constantly expanding and becoming "an information centre on the internet" about everything going on in, or affecting people of Piopio and the surrounding districts, hopefully including the sports.
www.piopionz.com now links directly to Google Maps centred on Piopio, and can zoom and recentre to access any place in the world; and links directly to www.in-piopio.co.nz, Travel and sister sites for neighbouring towns Te Kuiti, and Taumarunui (though these are developing more slowly)

For each business club or group, I design upload and manage a unique web-page within the main website. Its own photo album is accessed from the Gallery button on their webpage.
I prefer people to send information in their own wording, so their page sounds like them, and not like more of me.

On the main page of the site you will find an Introduction to Piopio, and links to:-
*the Gallery, and Contacts, Attractions, Maps, History pages etc.
*the Directory/Links page, our indexed free listing of as many as possible of the businesses etc serving our districts, with links where appropriate.
*A Noticeboard where I can upload news, or provide authorised persons from the club etc with a confidential password to upload their own news.
*A Community Diary where events are marked on the calendar. Click on an event name to see its details.
*the local news-sheet, Birdtalk,
*and a nice BIG Google interactive map centred on Piopio.

As the website has to pay Internet fees etc, there is a small annual fee per webpage, but it is mainly run as a service to the community.

Advantages of this service above others:-
*obviously the budget price
*a quality local resource.
*Locally managed, ready access to webmaster with locality interest
*personal service - not just a business
*Information usually uploaded within 24 hours
*Changes and updates usually loaded within 24 hours - very handy when errors have been made.
*24 - 7 - 365 access (Website hosts claim above 97% availability)

Disadvantages against other forms of publicity.
*Need an internet-connected computer to access it. (or some cell phones)
*You have to print out or request any items you want in hard-copy (on paper).