Happy locals gathered at Mt Maunganui Beach - an iconic New Zealand summer destination - to farewell 60 little blue penguins as they set off down the beach on their way home to their natural habitat on Rabbit Island.

The penguins are the first of about 400 oiled birds, rescued after the MV Rena went aground off the coast of the Bay of Plenty coast, to be released back into the wild.

Since they were retrieved from beaches along the Bay of Plenty coastline, the penguins have been through a three-stage cleaning process in a wildlife recovery centre.

Before release, each bird has to pass a health check and a six-hour swim test to show that it has regained its natural waterproofing. After a period of exercising in fresh water, they also have to be reintroduced to salt water.

Penguins and other local seabird populations such as dotterel are territorial and will return to their original habitat so the release will be progressive as areas are checked and approved to receive them.

Coastline open
After a massive cleanup, all but two small sections of the Bay of Plenty coastline - a year-round New Zealand holiday destination renowned for its long stretches of white sand beaches - is open and ready for the summer season.

The community had rallied to help clean the beaches, and almost all Bay of Plenty activities and attractions were now operating as normal, Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Glenn Ormsby said.

Tauranga is a major destination port for New Zealand’s cruise ship market, and this year’s season which is already underway will see 82 ships in port

International yachts from The Clipper round-world race have also started arriving in Tauranga.

“The fact that these yachts are still coming here is more visual proof that the clean-up is working, the water is clean and Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty are ready for summer,” Ormsby said.

Pristine beaches
More than 7800 volunteers were involved in the clean up operation which had restored the beaches to fine condition for summer, Ormsby said.

“We’ve been blown away by the community response volunteering to help clean up and restore our coastline to its magnificent best.”

Professor David Schiel, a leading marine ecologist from Canterbury University, said the response to the oil spill had been very rapid by international standards.

“The response has been outstanding and involved the public so they’ve shared in dealing with this crisis,” Schiel said.

The MV Rena has been drained of oil removing any threat of further spillage. Salvage work is now concentrated on removing the containers.

City.Mobi

Also in New Zealand today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Auckland.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Auckland.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.