Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

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″)

Lisa Thompson reports on the Auckland Town Hall Centenary birthday party. (12′54″)

It's being claimed as a first in New Zealand - a public fair day at the Auckland's Women's Prison. All the crafts and baking were done by the inmates and the proceeds went to good causes. (11′26″)

The first woman to command one of the Navy's commissioned ships is due to end her tour of duty on board the Pukaki next month. A fifth of the Navy's workforce is now made up of women. David Steemson caught up with Captain Alexandra Hansen just before she left port at the Devonport Naval base. (10′04″)

Auckland church St Matthew-in-the-city has a lot to celebrate: the return to work of their vicar; and the unveiling of a million-dollar Henry Willis organ. (8′22″)

It's a "new dawn" for the tiny community of Te Hana, right on the northern outskirts of Auckland's super city. David Steemson takes a look. (10′07″)

Auckland has been re-imagined many times over in the last 200 years. Many of the region's maps are now held in the Auckland Museum Library's collection. Lisa Thompson visited the exhibition "You Are Here - Mapping Auckland". (11′20″)

Auckland Zoo has dispatched staff to help rescue oil-soaked wildlife in the Bay of Plenty, which inspired David Steemson takes a look at the work of zoo's New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine. (10′28″)

It's theatre-sports but not as we know it - Auckland's brand-new Q Theatre is hosting an improv festival. (8′42″)

A six-month pilot project called 'Tuan Jie', or 'Project Unity', is pairing new Asian Safety Patrol volunteers with Pacific Island counterparts for street patrols. (12′52″)

An Auckland University Professor of Economics warns that visitors here to see world class rugby are also looking at the reality of New Zealand's 'clean and green image'. Auckland particularly is in the spotlight. (7′46″)

Auckland Museum is highlighting the success of Maori in New Zealand rugby history with an exhibition called "AkeAke Kia Kaha: The Spirit of Maori". David Steemson takes a look. (10′10″)

Auckland Zoo's new 16-million dollar New Zealand walk-in exhibition area has just opened. Described as a kind of  "natural New Zealand in a nutshell", Te Wao Nui covers over three hectares in the zoo and is home to over 60-representatives of New Zealand's birds, fish, reptiles, creepie crawlies including kauri snails and the one mammal - a bat. (10′22″)