NZ@Noon: Ugly, rare shark stranded on beach

It's not the most attractive sea creature, but this bigeye thresher shark has sparked plenty of interest.

An ugly, but rare, shark is found stranded on a Northland beach and Rotorua is set to change some of the city's traditional zebra crossings with red and white stripes are just two of the stories making headlines around the regions today.

An unusual creature from the deep has been spotted stranded on a Northland beach. The creature, a relatively rare bigeye thresher shark.

What's wrong with the zebra crossings? Rotorua Lakes Council unveil changes to some of the city's crossing which include painting the stripes red and white.

A giant yellow inflatable duck has sent social media quackers after it popped up on the Whanganui River on Friday night. The duck - which took three hours to inflate - is promoting this week's raft race.

With just days until the Farmlands Horse of the Year Show gets under way, ticket sales are up on last year with more than 50,000 people expected to flow through the gates.

At least one building is expected to be demolished after asbestos was found at Tauranga Historic Village.

Day-trippers and holidaymakers love visiting South Wairarapa's wild and woolly coast, but when it comes to putting their hands in their pockets in appreciation of what they have enjoyed, they are seemingly not very keen.