Christchurch - Canterbury

New Zealand's southern winter slopes are a-buzz with high adrenalin activity as international snow and ice sports stars take their places for the second 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games.

A wintry blast has dumped a deep snow blanket across New Zealand’s mountains over the past week, leaving ski fields in the north and south in superb shape for the winter season.

A Tiffany diamond bracelet – found wrapped in a sock – and a shoe collection are among precious items returned to grateful overseas owners after being recovered from earthquake-hit Christchurch, New Zealand hotels.

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.

Skiers and snowboarders are clapping their gloved hands and kicking up their snow boots – kei te heke te hukapapa (it is snowing) and the New Zealand ski season is underway.

‘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.

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.

With 85,000 international visitors in the country, Rugby World Cup will showcase New Zealand to a global audience of discerning travellers – and, away from the rugby field, it’s Kiwi food and wine that’s likely to attract the most sustained interest.

Hagley Park in Christchurch will become a giant fan zone and festival area during Rugby World Cup 2011 providing a central venue for rugby-mad Cantabrians and visitors keen to be part of the major event.

Astronauts who are more used to viewing New Zealand from space will conduct a voyage of discovery with a difference this week when they step onto Kiwi soil as part of an ‘inner space’ mission.