Auckland

Rugby World Cup 2011 will be a chance to experience and relive New Zealand’s rich rugby heritage with a series of REAL New Zealand Festival nostalgic exhibitions and events surrounding the tournament.

Tourism New Zealand’s giant rugby ball will stand on home ground for the first time – alongside The Cloud in the heart of Auckland’s party central on Queen’s Wharf during Rugby World Cup 2011.

‘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.

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.

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.

The first glimpse of Te Wao Nui – a major new ecological project at Auckland Zoo and the biggest development in the city attraction’s history – will be offered to visitors to celebrate World Environment Day.

A New Zealand garden transported to the other side of the earth for the world famous Chelsea Flower show has not only won a silver medal, but also the royal stamp of approval from the Queen.

A rare all-white kiwi, thought to be the first ever bred in captivity, has hatched at New Zealand's Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre.

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.

Glow worms, great food, black water rafting and bungy jumping have left US pop star Katy Perry raving, and in love with New Zealand after her first visit.