  We present results from a multi-chord Pluto stellar occultation observed on
29 June 2015 from New Zealand and Australia. This occurred only two weeks
before the NASA New Horizons flyby of the Pluto system and serves as a useful
comparison between ground-based and space results. We find that Pluto's
atmosphere is still expanding, with a significant pressure increase of
5$\pm$2\% since 2013 and a factor of almost three since 1988. This trend rules
out, as of today, an atmospheric collapse associated with Pluto's recession
from the Sun. A central flash, a rare occurrence, was observed from several
sites in New Zealand. The flash shape and amplitude are compatible with a
spherical and transparent atmospheric layer of roughly 3~km in thickness whose
base lies at about 4~km above Pluto's surface, and where an average thermal
gradient of about 5 K~km$^{-1}$ prevails. We discuss the possibility that small
departures between the observed and modeled flash are caused by local
topographic features (mountains) along Pluto's limb that block the stellar
light. Finally, using two possible temperature profiles, and extrapolating our
pressure profile from our deepest accessible level down to the surface, we
obtain a possible range of 11.9-13.7~$\mu$bar for the surface pressure.
