All News
Viewing all entries for 'January 2012'
Rare penguin in Milford Sound
Southern Discoveries Kayak Guide Paul Park noticed a lone penguin near the Milford Sound Wharf over the weekend. It was the season’s first sighting of a rare Fiordland Crested Penguin or ‘Tawaki’.
Read the full postChristchurch convention venue progress
Demolition of the quake-hit Christchurch Convention Centre is now under way but The Press reports that plans are afoot to bring convention business back into the city with the help of a $15 million expansion of the city’s Air Force Museum at Wigram. Air Force Museum director Therese Angelo said the original plans to enlarge the museum space by 4200sqm had been further extended to 6200sqm of extra space, more than doubling the museum building’s existing footprint of around 5000sqm. The expansion would be able to cater for 800
to 1000 people at a time.
MV Titiroa
The new Real Journeys vessel MV Titiroa has been lifted into the water at Lake Manapouri and is to be officially launched on 25FEB.
Read the full postNew Zealand’s Hobbit-forming ways
USA Today has just carried a big story on Hobbiton and Ian Alexander’s farm outside Matamata, where the movie set was created. It tells of the farmer’s astonishment at being approached in 1998 by a location scout for permission to film Lord of the Rings on his property. Nowadays his woolshed is reborn as the Shire’s Rest cafe and function centre,
thousands of fans visit the farm every year, the attraction’s website is offered in eight languages and Alexander’s son is GM of the operation.
Milford Sound access projects attract submissions
The Department of Conservation has so far received 196 submissions related to the concession applications for the Milford Dart tunnel and 20 submissions regarding the Fiordland Link Experience monorail. The Southland Times quotes DoC spokeswoman Juanita Tresidder as saying the department was unable to give “the breakdown of submissions in support or against, as we won’t be analysing all the submissions until after the closing date”.
Read the full postHobbiton could pull 150,000 tourists a year
Hobbiton, which last year attracted 30,000 visitors, is expected to welcome as many as 150,000 visitors a year by 2015 if plans for the expansion and development of the quaint set for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies are approved. Rings Scenic Tours, owner operator of the Hobbiton movie set outside Matamata, has lodged an application for a resource consent with the local District Council. In it, the applicants have detailed a three stage plan that would see the establishment of car and coach parking, paths and toilet facilities, followed by the development of the Hobbit Hole conference and incentives centre in a marqueestyled building, and eventually as multi-purpose exhibition space containing movie stage sets and memorabilia, plus a Visitor Centre with restaurant/cafe, function areas and retail, and outdoor dining at the thatched Green Dragon Inn.
Read the full postHamilton Runway Extension Approved
Approval has been given to extend Hamilton International Airport’s runway to just short of 3000m at any time over the next 15 years. New approvals and recommendations allow for an extended runway, taxiways, extended apron, associated air noise boundary changes and include land designations at both ends of the runway for the protection of runway lights and navigation aids to allow the implementation of instrument landing system high intensity lighting.
Read the full post