James Beech

More than 50 travel agents from Australia are breaking away from the party of 255 agents attending Tourism New Zealand's ''Mega Famil'' in Auckland and venturing south to Queenstown and Wanaka this weekendThe 54 agents arrived in Queenstown yesterday.

A Department of Conservation (Doc) project to protect a rare ecosystem near Queenstown will receive a helping hand from the Queenstown Climbing Club.

Counsel representing parties involved in the Environment Court case on the bid by Nzone Skydive Queenstown to increase operations near Jacks Point agreed on Thursday to resume the hearing next week.

Queenstown talent Fiona Stephenson, as murderess turned tabloid sensation Roxie Hart who fantasises about being a star, performs with (from left) Yukin Naidoo, Huffer Campos, Kyle Thompson-Connell and Paul McLachlan in the Showbiz Queenstown production of Chicago.

Nzone Skydive Queenstown had to divert customers to Queenstown Airport more than six times in the year ending November 2012 when customer demand exceeded the existing 35-flights-a-day cap at the airfield.

Consent for Nzone Skydive Queenstown to increase its number of flights should be declined, or the cap at 35 flights a day should be maintained if consent is granted, Jacks Point parties say.

A Brazilian man earned a severe warning from police after he allegedly joked about a bomb not being packed in his friend's luggage at Queenstown Airport yesterday.

NZSki chiefs gave their most upbeat preseason briefing in years to the Wakatipu business community last night.

Decades of conservation experience and technical knowledge in the Wakatipu could be lost as a result of national restructuring of the Department of Conservation (Doc).

Promoting the importance of wearing life jackets when boating is one of a raft of agreements signed by Maritime New Zealand and national boating authorities from Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom.