Nature / Sustainable Tourism

New Zealand’s Auckland Town Hall has resonated to some sweet sounds in its 100-year history, and the latest buzz involves a group of busy locals who seem set to stick around for a while.

New Zealand’s adventure capital, Queenstown, is being painted in a different light with a new soft tourism experience that combines art and the outdoors, and gives visitors something special to take home.

Shrek the New Zealand sheep that lived a hermit’s life in South Island high country and died an international celebrity, is likely to find a distinguished resting place at Te Papa – Museum of New Zealand.

Kaikoura – New Zealand’s southern whale watching capital – has become the first destination in the world to achieve gold in a new global green benchmark for community sustainability efforts.

‘Happy Feet’ – the Antarctic emperor penguin that made New Zealand visitor arrival history by finding its way to a North Island beach – continues its fight for life under the watchful eye of Kiwi medics and conservation experts.

Whale watching is a year round pastime in New Zealand but come winter, the popular activity takes on a more serious role, and this year a busy migration period is providing valuable data as well as entertainment.

First there were celebrity dolphins and an accident-prone kiwi. Next a cave-dweller hermit sheep, a rather forward flightless parrot and a sand-eating penguin – and now New Zealand has another animal celebrity.

Sirocco, the rare New Zealand kākāpo parrot whose frisky behaviour with a BBC television crew propelled him to global stardom, will make some cameo appearances during Rugby World Cup.

It's official ... Manukura, the first white kiwi chick hatched in captivity in New Zealand, is a girl.

He’s just ticked off his 101st birthday celebration, and New Zealand health pioneer, Claude Stratford, is still a walking advertisement for the natural bee products he’s made world famous.