Marjorie Cook

The Wanaka Presbyterian church's $1 million building extension programme has been approved by the Queenstown Lakes District Council.

In the past decade, much has been done to plan for growth at Wanaka Airport. ODT reporter Marjorie Cook discovers that while you can now buy a handbag there, jet planes are still off the agenda.

It has long been accepted Wanaka Airport might have to become a corporate entity so it can raise funds to undertake improvements outlined in the airport's 2008 master plan.

It is not yet known whether the new Warbirds Over Wanaka visitor attraction will get one of nine mothballed Skyhawk jet fighters from the Government.

Sara Brodie laughs as she tells a story on her youthful self. "When I was 4 years old I was watching my father rehearse for Salad Days and on the way home I was telling him off for not following the script, the director or standing stage centre, where he was supposed to be. And I also taught him the box step, because he was hopeless at it," she said.

The next batch of New Zealand Olympians will be sent to London next year with the sounds of a Wanaka ukulele orchestra ringing in their ears.

Records fell in the open men's, open women's and men's 60-plus age group categories of the Southern Lakes Half Marathon (21.1km) race in the Cardrona Valley on Saturday.

North Island teenagers Emma Lovegrove (15) and Daniel Krippner (17) emerged as the speed climbers to beat at the end of the first round of the New Zealand sport climbing national cup competition in Wanaka yesterday.

Communities must work together to support events and capitalise on the economic benefits and opportunities they present, Prof James Higham, of Otago University, says.

Two Wanaka events generated nearly $23.5 million in economic benefits for the town in the past 12 months, according to two surveys released this week.