Matt Stewart

A Queenstown police officer said yesterday the reason police want to see 2am closing for licensed premises was clear over the opening weekend of the Queenstown Winter Festival as 34 people were arrested for a variety of offences.

Thousands of people lined the streets of Queenstown's CBD On Saturday to cheer on the multicoloured floats in the Queenstown Winter Festival street parade.

Three people and a dog probably could not have chosen a better - or more public - place to sink their jet-boat than in front of thousands of spectators at yesterday's Winter Festival Day in the Bay events on Queenstown beach.

The crowd was in for a surprise when Arrowtown children's author Alma Stevenson launched her new Rugby World Cup book Zac Mac the All Black at St John's Church, Arrowtown, on Saturday.

After a gruelling 15-week training regime, the bell finally tolled for the 22 competitors in the Queenstown Winter Festival charity boxing Thriller in the Chiller II gala event.

Gritting of alpine roads will continue in the Queenstown Lakes district this winter, after a flood of submissions convinced the New Zealand Transport Agency and the district council to keep funding the safety measure.

The "10 coolest days in the country" will not be over until "the last fireworks explode, the last drag queen has fixed his last heels and the last boxer has stumbled out of the ring',' Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden said last night.

"Snow in May never stays, snow in June is a welcome boon, but on snow in July you can rely" is the message from long-time Queenstown resident Vance Boyd, who says the fuss over the resort's snow drought is a byproduct of expectations raised by snowmaking technology.

Police suspect an "inside job" after 24 cash boxes containing nearly $2000 were stolen from Connectabus' Arrowtown depot early yesterday morning.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council has moved to resolve the issue of private businesses' storage and parking encroaching on council reserve land next to the Frankton industrial zone.