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A LION, A WITCH, A WARDROBE, ONE VERY VERY LARGE APE AND A KIWI BLOKE ON A MOTORBIKE...

The world will again see the beauty of New Zealand through the eyes of Kiwi film makers, with The Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong both set to enthral audiences from late December. Then from early April 2006 Sir Anthony Hopkins stars in The World's Fastest Indian, based on the life of proud Invercargill bloke Burt Munro as he attempts to break the world speed record on his Indian motorbike.

For more information on ‘New Zealand' movies this summer go to www.newzealand.com

Accommodation updates

The Spire is BeSTed
Four months after opening, The Spire Queenstown has won a prestigious BeST Design Award in recognition of its outstanding interior design in the hospitality category.
http://www.newzealand.com/travel/media/press-releases/05_oct_21_luxury_spirebestedaward_pressrelease.cfm

Edgewater Resort - Lake Wanaka

The 18 month, multi-million dollar refurbishment programme was completed in May, and now they have won an Excellence in Customer Service at the Lion Nathan Awards for Excellence.

Web: www.edgewater.co.nz

Princes Gate Hotel - Rotorua

The 107 year old Princes Gate Hotel has been restored and includes a new spa and massage facility set to open this month. The facility will include a sauna, outdoor rock pools, a private pool and a massage therapy room. Fine food meets superb entertainment fusing opera and cabaret every Saturday night or on demand for conferences. Other additions include six new suite rooms being added to the existing 36 hotel rooms and 14 one and two bedroom apartments.

Web: www.princesgate.co.nz

This luxury bush hideaway, designed by local French artist Laurent X Julien and architect Richard Smart in the Bay of Islands, was completed in October 2005. The Hundertwasser-inspired, luxury, eco-friendly accommodation combines indoor / outdoor living with attention to detail and warm natural ambience. Also on offer are the services of a mobile massage therapist who is used by other Northland accommodations such as Kauri Cliffs and Eagles Nest.

Hapuku Lodge is Kaikoura's only luxury lodge and is a beautifully designed accommodation which boasts a true Kiwi ambiance. The lodge is comprised of six spacious bedrooms and an ‘Olive House' apartment for larger groups. Five new luxury tree houses are currently under construction and will be completed by January 2006. The tree houses are situated in the tree tops of their manuka grove and will all feature spectacular views. Each room at Hapuku consists of custom made beds, linens, furniture and fixtures which add to the Kiwi style of the lodge. The property is settled within a deer farm and a 1000 tree olive grove and is located 15 minutes from the Kaikoura township. Dinner can be pre-arranged through the lodge and there is also the option of dining at their award-winning Hapuku Café which is located on site.

Created over 5 years according to biological and ecological principles, the Wanaka Lake House is an all timber European chalet with massive beams, posts, hand carved furniture and joinery throughout. Featuring a five-tonne Tulikivi stove and pizza oven, there is even a sauna and heated swimming pool in the living room! The house is the brainchild of Michael, a winemaker, and Eva, a Swiss hoteliere who have decorated with the house classic and contemporary art, antique furniture, Persian rugs and leadlight glass windows and doors. This eco-house includes three bedrooms, four bathrooms, a games room (semi-detached), several decks, a stacked stone courtyard, barbeque area and fountain.

Launched in September 2005, Mountain Valley is an adventure lodge set alongside the Mohaka River offering rural accommodation, a restaurant and bar for all budgets, plus wilderness horse trekking, river and whitewater rafting, kayaking and guided fishing.

Clive Barrow is an ex-British cavalry officer who, with his wife Lynne (a Kiwi), bought the property (formerly Riverlands) in January 2005. Clive has led 15 expeditions to the developing world including the Himalayas, Africa, South America, and set up a UK-based leadership programme for schools called World Challenge.

The Lodge is the first new accommodation provider to open in Mount Cook Village in 50 years and is aimed at the middle of the market. The Lodge has 15 guest rooms - 10 of these are kings or twins with views of Mount Cook. The other five rooms are bunkrooms. The Lodge makes plentiful use of timber in its décor, as it strives for a true alpine lodge look.

Bay of Many Coves Resort, Marlborough Sounds, designed by Cook, Sargisson & Pirie.

Accessible only by water, The Bay of Many Coves resort is a luxury retreat in the Marlborough Sounds. The site is one of spectacular natural beauty and the design of the resort is very much in sympathy with that. The resort is a collection of small scale buildings sensitively placed to be unobtrusive and minimise the impact on the environment.

All buildings were designed to established principals of sustainable design and materials selection also carefully considered with locally sourced and sustainable felled timber predominately used for both structure and cladding. Equally, the incorporation of public amenities at the resort have become valued and important facilities for the community based around Queen Charlotte Sound.

Those looking for a snap shot of what the new luxurious and elegant Langham Hotel, Auckland looks like can now do so at the click of a button. The Langham Hotel, Auckland has launched an informative micro site to keep the industry updated on its $12 million refurbishment which is scheduled for completion at the end of January 2006.

The hotel, which is located in the heart of Auckland, is upgrading all 410 rooms and suites which will maintain modern luxuries in a traditional context. The hotel's stunning new lobby, which will also be completed by the end of January, will include a spectacular new gold leaf dome with ornate coving.

The entrance will be dramatically lit by a central chandelier, shimmering high above an intricately woven rug. On the periphery, guests will be able to relax in elegant new furniture and tasteful lamps. New coffered ceiling, chandeliers, carpets and furniture will make The Winery as enticing as its fabulous cocktails. This already popular lobby bar will be the ultimate place to meet and unwind while optimising the Langham heritage of sophisticated hospitality.

A sumptuous retreat in a lovely rural setting, Breckenridge Lodge offers a warm and unforgettable gourmet experience. The Lodge is nestled in the picturesque valley of Omarunui and is conveniently situated only minutes drive from Napier, Hastings, Taradale and the Napier Airport. Guests have views over the vineyard directly below the Lodge and surrounding orchards, and hosts Malcolm and Liana can offer a very special food and wine experience. Having been a chef for over 25 years working for the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the prestigious Huka Lodge in Taupo, The George Hotel in Christchurch, and the restaurants at Te Awa Farm and Church Road wineries, Malcolm will tempt guests with the very best of Hawke's Bay produce and his culinary expertise.

Hiking New Zealand is launching the Fault-line Adventure this summer, and aim to cater for those who have an adventurous spirit, yet also enjoy the comfort of quality accommodation at the end of each day. This tour begins in Christchurch and ends in the adventure capital of Queenstown, fitting well into one working week.

After eight years of research on the enhancement of surfing waves the Mount Reef Trust is ready to begin construction of New Zealand's first artificial surfing reef. New Zealand's ‘Surf City', Mount Maunganui, will be the location for the reef, which will not be visible above water. The artificial reef will produce fast peeling, tubing, right-hand and left-hand waves, suitable for competent and experienced surfers. The reef will also be extensively monitored for its performance in terms of surfing wave quality, biological enhancement and socio-economic impacts. The Mount Reef project had its beginnings as a research idea at the University of Waikato, under the direction of Professor Kerry Black. The Artificial Reefs Program (ARP) was developed as part of positive coastal development, forming the basis of many student research projects.

Locally owned Random Adventures started operating in June. Random Adventures offers flexible half and full day tours which include thermal swimming at the Wai-O-Tapu area and exploring numerous lakes as well as Rainbow Mountain with its unique geothermal features. The distances are small meaning travellers have more time to enjoy the surroundings and less time travelling in vehicles.

Wild Blue takes free-dive spear fishing trips to several New Zealand destinations. Free-dive spear fishing involves scouring the seas for large fish with only flippers and a spear gun. The trips are for risk-takers and only the truly adventurous. The day will include finding, shooting and wrestling large fish to the water's surface before running out of breath.

Travel the length of New Zealand on horse, mountain bike or foot in The Great New Zealand Trek. This is a unique way for people to travel the country in 12 week-long stages of around 250 kilometres. The first stage is from Cape Reinga to Kohukohu in Northland from 11-19 March 2006. Stage 2 will continue from the Hokianga in 2007 and so on until participants reach Bluff in Southland in 2018. Participants choose their mode of transport and travel between 30-45 kilometres per day for six days with a rest day halfway.

The Great New Zealand Trek is supported by a crew of 80 people and will offer luxuries from professional caterers, massage, luggage transport, hot showers, movies, bar, café, to entertainment such as a talent quest, mechanical bull, karaoke and slave auctions.

Most travelers take their first trip to New Zealand knowing that the country provides diverse and beautiful landscapes. What comes as a surprise to many is that it is the people of New Zealand that create life long memories not the beautiful places in their holiday photographs.

Locals & Landscapes run 1-5 day modules that allow travelers to not only see the beautiful landscapes of the country but to also spend time meeting and experiencing the people of the country. It is like having long lost friends that you haven't met yet waiting in the country for your arrival.

Imagine the opportunity to see New Zealand's rare penguins on a private farm with a casual "Kiwi bloke" guiding you to these "locals only" spots so that you can get up close Discover the beauty of Milford Sound via a four wheel drive route through high country sheep stations away from the bus crowds then help deliver the rural mail with your local who will keep you laughing all day. Enjoy a day discovering New Zealand wine, not only tasting it but helping pick the grapes or trim the vines or feel the stones in the soil. Meet the wine makers, lunch the owner of a vineyard and enjoy tasting from a private collection of rare NZ wines....all because you are with a local!

Guests feel like they are in a bee's world in Arataki Honey's brand new visitor centre, a mini theatre which shows bees within the hives at work with their queen. The centre features working hives and a bee wall where visitors can watch the worker bees up close doing their bee dance after returning from their ventures into the wild. Visitors have the opportunity to taste nine different flavours of honey the bees produce. Opened in late August 2005.

Timaru is to be home to a million dollar, world-class Maori rock art centre. The centre, an initiative by the Ngai Tahu Maori Rock Art Trust, will focus on pre- European Maori rock art and will be the only one of its kind. It will be located in Timaru's historic Landing Services Building and is due to open in winter 2007.

The museum and aviation business park is set to open in Omaka in December 2005. The 3,000 square metre display area was designed by Weta (Peter Jackson's physical effects production company).

The Winehouse & Kitchen is an innovative new wine tourism experience in the Gibbston Valley, 20 minutes drive from Queenstown. Located adjacent to the Kawarau Bungy Bridge, the wine tasting room is a restored 100-year-old homestead showcasing van Asch wines from Central Otago, Rockferry wines from Marlborough and Freefall wines of New Zealand. The restaurant is a farmhouse concept with an emphasis on warm welcomes and hearty wholesome food in keeping with the homestead's pastoral heritage. The grounds of the Winehouse & Kitchen have stunning views of the surrounding mountainsides and the Kawarau River while also offering croquet lawns, pottage gardens and an interpretive wine garden for visitors' enjoyment. Guests are encouraged to take time to enjoy a picnic amongst the vineyards and landscaping, which complement the homestead's riverside location.

Join your friends for a glorious day out on Waiheke, Island of Wine. Festival 2006, starting on February 11^th it promises to be more splendid than ever with: Fantastic NEW single site format at ISOLA ESTATE, a gorgeous new location set amongst the vines in the Onetangi "Vineyard" Valley. Six hours of live entertainment from some of New Zealand's finest entertainers. Outstanding gourmet fare with a menu featuring The Great Catering Company's delicious ways with Crayfish and Whitebait.