KEY POINTS:
$100
Roughly how much Air New Zealand's internet fares have dropped by in the past month. A flight from Auckland to Brisbane is now around $269 (down from $372) and from Wellington to Sydney it's around $299 (down from $358). Some lucky travellers paid just $13 for tickets from Auckland to Sydney this month. The limited tickets sold out within minutes. So with cut-price fares, there's no excuse for not seeing the Lucky Country.
82
The number of television channels available for New Zealand viewers via satellite and cable. So if you can't afford dinner at Huka Lodge, there should be something at least half-decent to watch back at home.
5
Auckland's ranking in a recent international quality of life survey. That puts us in front of Florida, New York and France. Who says the grass is always greener?
87
The number of days that George Bush, one of the most unpopular US presidents of all time, has left in power.
285,000
The record number of tonnes of grapes harvested in New Zealand this year. The harvest is up 39 per cent on last year and almost four times the production of a decade ago. The big boost in production is due mostly to increased production of sauvignon blanc in Marlborough for export. But don't worry about all the good stuff heading overseas, there's a record number of good Kiwi wines available on the shelves here too. A summer pick for under $20: Mahi Marlborough sauvignon blanc.
6
The number of home-grown movies released this year. Our pick of the bunch? Second Hand Wedding, a feel-good tale directed by Paul Murphy, whose father Geoff directed the classic Goodbye Pork Pie. Second Hand Wedding took more than $1 million at the box office. Which bodes well for the future of Kiwi movies.
2.2
There are more bouncing babies in New Zealand. The average number of children born to each Kiwi woman is up to 2.2 with 64,140 babies born in the year to June. This means New Zealand women are having more children than at any time since 1973.
1m
The increase in the number of visitors to New Zealand since 1998. Last year visitors totalled almost 2.5 million, with most (39 per cent) coming from Australia, followed by Britain, America and Japan. That's more overseas money being poured into the economy - and every bit helps.
11.3
The divorce rate has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade - just 11.3 for every 1000 married couples in 2007, according to Statistics New Zealand. This was down from 11.9 divorces per 1000 couples in 2006.
$940m
The total international box-office takings for Casino Royale, the last Bond film. Why is this good news? Because big money at the ticket office meant big budgets for an even more explosive Quantum of Solace, the next film in the franchise, due out on November 27.
