Summer

Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour is hosting a celebrity line-up – not all famous yachties – during the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series races on the Hauraki Gulf.

It’s called the silly season and no wonder! While most Kiwis celebrate Christmas in a traditional way, the summer sun and pending holidays sometimes incite out-of-the-ordinary festive behaviour in New Zealand.

International rugby teams and fans from all over New Zealand are descending on Wellington this weekend (6 - 7 February) to play their part in the 2009 NZI Rugby Sevens.

Sunshine, a fun atmosphere, world-class entertainment and a unique setting in a picturesque vineyard’s natural amphitheatre – no wonder New Zealand’s Rhythm & Vines is the place to be for New Year.

When New Zealand’s pohutukawa tree lights up with crimson blooms, Kiwis know that summer’s here and the festive season is just around the corner.

The world’s top buskers are lining up for a festival that promises to lift spirits in Christchurch, and get 2011 underway on a positive note for the earthquake-torn region.

New Plymouth’s Pukekura Park, one of New Zealand’s best known gardens of national significance, is about to become a sparkling wonderland for the annual TSB Bank Festival of Lights.

As summer draws to a close and hikers prepare to hang up their boots for the season, New Zealand is enjoying new status in the international walking community with Te Araroa – the long pathway that stretches from one end of the country to the other.

Summer is the season for outdoor food and wine events in New Zealand, and this year a worldwide movement embracing this - The Summer of Riesling is set to captivate the country.

As Emirates Team New Zealand and Alinghi set sail in the final stages of the inaugural Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, the chances of the international yachting event happening again – and in Auckland - are growing stronger by the day.