Summer Times

Billy Allan No. 7 Balmac, Dunedin

Why and how did you become a chef? I wasn't too interested in school work, it is the only profession that I wanted to pursue from a very young age.

Otago Daily Times technology editor Dene Mackenzie has sourced the king of printers and a snazzy new cellphone to give away to two lucky Summer Times readers.

ODT subeditor Tony Love has been obsessed by sport for more than 40 years. However, the all-consuming passion of youth has dulled and, as he gets older, it is the aspects of sport that bug him that occupy more and more of his thoughts.

Uncorking problems, rather than bottling them up, is the answer to resolving rifts between relatives who work together on a daily basis, Sarah Mills tells reporter Lucy Ibbotson. The wine analogy is a fitting one for the Mills family, who founded Wanaka's Rippon Vineyard 30 years ago and still carry forward a century-old family legacy.

Dunedin's history can be seen in its towering church spires, but also found hidden behind small doors. Chris Morris explores.

Ever felt like walking out on your life? Well, that's exactly what Trevor and Sue McNamara did when they took their children and moved from South to Central Otago for a lifestyle change. Lynda Van Kempen talks to the couple who say they have no regrets about the move.

Many secrets lie hidden beneath the sea around the Otago coast. Nigel Benson and Stephen Jaquiery go shipwreck hunting.

Summer Times asked 12 Otago people to describe the best day of their lives. (To ensure variety, we ruled out the day contributors met their partners, married them, or their children were born.)

It is a question of who works for whom when it comes to Queenstown Lakes District mayor Vanessa van Uden and Lakes Environmental's Peter Laurenson's relationship.

Shane Gilchrist presents a special Summer Times selection of albums worth exploring.