Southland

Rugby World Cup excitement is spreading as communities from the north to the south of New Zealand react enthusiastically to the announcement of team hosting venues for the 2011 event.

As New Zealand bursts into spring colour, an event-filled calendar and the forecast of a long hot summer promise to banish winter blues.

The smallest and rarest species of dolphin, the Hector’s dolphin, is undergoing a population boost due to conservation work at the dolphin sanctuary at Banks Peninsula.

Environmentally-aware tourists interested in off-the-beaten-track travel are monitoring progress on New Zealand’s national cycleway project, an ambitious project that’s due to begin development in November 2009.

Background information on the match venues for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

Thirteen host towns and cities in different New Zealand regions will help fill the 'stadium of four million' promised by the New Zealand Rugby Union for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Written and directed by New Zealander Roger Donaldson, and starring Oscar-winning Sir Anthony Hopkins, it seems New Zealand is taking the world's centre-screen again.

Birds have a special place in the folklore of New Zealand Maori, who believed the graceful winged creatures to be messengers from the spirit world.

Essential to the New Zealand experience is the unique sound of the beautiful song birds heard in forests, hills and backyards all over the country.

Narnia was created in the early 1950s by English author CS Lewis as the mythical land for his books "The Chronicles of Narnia". Loved by children of all ages, this world of fauns, satyrs and centaurs will soon become real, and you won't need a wardrobe to find it.