Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Mount Eden has been a popular tourist destination for years. Since Christmas a shuttle operated by Ngatiwhatua-o-Orakei has been giving some folks a helping hand up and along the way they also learn something about the history of the mountain. (9′27″)

Aucklander Jeff Evans has got almost 100,000 books delivered free to children at schools in the Pacific Islands. (10′17″)

There are forty two trees in the street, and the residents of Flatbush Road say they've gotta go. The Otara folk say they've been fighting for thirteen years to get the Pin Oaks cut down, but now there may be a glimmer of hope. (9′29″)

Lisa Thompson went to the South Auckland Pacific Arts Summit, which celebrates a broad spectrum of Pacific arts and culture. Over the month of May, the Summit will feature exhibitions, a live public mural project at the club rooms of the Otara Scorpions league team, workshops discussing Pacific architecture and dance fono which will draw various dance practitioners from around the country. (11′57″)

Jim Halford must rate as one of the country's oldest newspaper delivery boys. At 75 he's just retired, after 26 years on his beat delivering up to 140 copies of South Auckland's Manukau Courier three times a week. (9′05″)

Community Fruit Harvesting was started by Di Celliers on the North Shore of Auckland when she noticed fruit rotting on the ground in backyards in her community. So, with a group of friends as volunteers, she set out to pick fruit around her neighbourhood. A year later, the project has delivered over 2000 kg of fresh fruit and numerous jars of preserves and marmalades to groups such as Auckland's City Mission, ensuring others less fortunate can enjoy fresh fruit. (12′26″)

Auckland singer song-writer Johnny Matteson has spent two decades spreading positive messages about mental health through his music. After being diagnosed with manic depression in his teens, he earned himself a Health Science Degree, has worked as a "consumer speaker" for the Mental Health Foundation and taken music as therapy for the criminally insane. His music has appeared in two New Zealand films. (9′39″)

A group of Auckland lesbians are looking for angel investors to fund this country's first Lesbian Elder Village. (8′56″)

A desire to live in an energy-efficient home free from damp, has pushed Philip Ivanier and his family to create an Australasian first. When completed, the Ivanier's Glendowie home will be the region's first certified passive house. Spoken Features producer Lisa Thompson visits the building site to meet Philip, who is now a trailblazer for a concept still relatively unfamiliar in New Zealand. (12′46″)

The survival stories of many Polish orphans brought to New Zealand after World War Two are depicted in a new exhibition of paintings at Auckland's Polish Museum. (9′05″)

Mary Rahiti has beaten the odds by losing half her body weight, surviving a life-threatening tumour operation, and becoming a national body building champion. (9′51″)

Sixteen-year-old Albany school boy Mark Glover is one of six finalists world-wide chosen in an international Virtual Robot competition. He's planning to be in the US in April to pick up his prize! (9′46″)

In a time when people are spoilt for entertainment choice, theatres are having to fight harder to attract audiences through their doors. However, one community theatre in Auckland has proven it can last the distance. The Dolphin Theatre in Onehunga celebrates it's 50th birthday this year, as well as putting on it's 250th play. Lisa Thompson has been along to meet those 'lighting the lights' for the theatre's milestone. (12′25″)

First there was beachcombing. Now its "earthcombing"… exploring what's under our very feet. (10′20″)

Teenage fathers are learning how to become better dads, as a result of a new course run by Auckland's Otara Health Charitable trust. So far the centre's run two of the courses, and another starts this month. (9′32″)

Tucked away on a quarter-acre oasis near Mt Albert, Bonsaiville was established in the early 1960s and boasts over 400 bonsai. Lisa Thompson recently met bonsai enthusiasts Bob Langholm and Simon Misdale and was amazed to find even the mighty kauri can be tamed and trimmed into miniature. (13′24″)

Thirteen South Auckland beneficiaries are ready for the work force after finishing a back-to-work course run by Manurewa's Parenting Hub. (8′57″)

Author Dee Pigneguy and her husband Mike live tucked away on an urban oasis, deep within Glenfield on Auckland's North Shore. An avid gardener and an advocate of living sustainably, Dee teaches gardening to schoolchildren, is involved in a number of community gardens and opens her own garden for regular 'nana technology' classes. (13′41″)

Rotoroa Island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf is no longer an "island apart". For a hundred years it was the Salvation Army's alcohol and drug treatment centre, and off-limits to the public. Now after a $30 million makeover the island's now wide open to visitors. (8′09″)

Some South Auckland kids have been out on the streets nabbing speeding drivers near their schools. It's all part of a police road safety campaign, and best of all, the children get to tell the speedsters off. (9′00″)