Shops and entertainment are a stroll from this quality 800-apartment development, finds Sandra Goodwin

Watercare is pumping water from tankers into water pipes for almost 600 elderly people in two retirement villages and a hospital affected by a general water outage in the Albany area.

Watercare says water will not be fully restored in Albany until tomorrow morning at the earliest.

A burst water main has left a number of homes and businesses, including the Westfield Mall in Albany, without water on Auckland's North Shore this evening.

The people of Albany, a suburb of Auckland's North Shore given over largely to big box retailers and franchise universities, was surprised on Saturday night when a Super Rugby match broke out at North Harbour Stadium.

An 18-year-old put himself and his family at risk as armed police swooped on his Auckland home, after he allegedly waved a replica gun around while driving.

A fire at a childcare centre on Auckland's North Shore early this morning is being treated as suspicious.

A man believed to be behind a sophisticated cannabis-growing operation was oblivious to a police raid at his warehouse - until he walked right into it.

Police have uncovered a major cannabis cultivating operation in an Auckland industrial area and say the plants could have fetched up to $1 million.

Auckland's universities are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new buildings, transforming not only their campuses but the shape of the city they serve.

Long Bay College student Brad Chamley (17) is performing in the Class Comedians' Graduation Showcase today at 3pm, as part of the 20th NZ International Comedy Festival.

Firefighters are tackling a blaze at the Great Dessert Company in Albany on Auckland's North Shore.