A mission to rescue a seriously injured man from a cruise ship south of Campbell Island is believed to be one of the furthermost helicopter rescue operations undertaken in New Zealand.
Two Swedish tourists were rescued by surf life-savers south of Brighton on Saturday after the inflatable mattress they were floating on started drifting out to sea.
The Tuatapere community was reeling last night as news spread that two Dutch tourists were robbed at knifepoint and the woman sexually assaulted in the western Southland town's holiday park.
A single ambulance officer was sent to 292, or 13%, of the 2141 incidents to which St John responded in Dunedin in November and December.
A 54-year-old foreign national arrested yesterday following the sexual violation of a 29-year-old Dunedin woman was staying at the hotel where the incident took place, but the victim was not, police said.
Police investigating the attempted theft of an automatic teller machine from an Outram store early yesterday say they are following a strong lead.
Quick thinking by Mosgiel woman Abbie Eaton may have saved her life yesterday, when she looked up to see a freight train bearing down on her as she crossed a rural railway crossing.
Police are hoping the release of a picture of the filleting knife that may have been used in the hold-up of two Dutch tourists in the small western Southland town of Tuatapere early yesterday morning, will elicit further information from the public.
Police are warning people to stay out of the water at Karitane, near Dunedin, after a "very large shark" chased surfers out of the water about 9.40am this morning.
More than 180 people were the subject of police co-ordinated search and rescue operations in the southern South Island in 2008, costing the taxpayer nearly $400,000.
Theives who stole lifesaving equipment from a Dunedin paramedic's truck while he was away working as a surf lifesaver, are being urged to return it.
A new system enabling immediate electronic transfer of information between ambulance, fire and police communications centres could be ready for use by the middle of the year if the cost is signed off, St John says.
The allure of quick cash from an automatic teller machine was too tempting for one would-be thief who yesterday tried to steal a Dunedin ATM by pulling it from a shop wall using a strop attached to his car.
There was more disappointment for traffic police in Dunedin on the fourth day of a three-week speeding campaign as they booked 42 drivers in a two-hour period.
The Australian manufacturer of the most popular new GPS-installed emergency distress beacon is working around the clock to fill orders as the world's rescue authorities prepare to switch to a new global satellite system on February 1.
The New Zealand Defence Force's new $500 million naval vessels may not be shipshape, but they will not be sold.
If cacti could scream, the ones in the Dunedin Botanic Garden would probably have shattered glass yesterday after they were damaged with their own plant labels.
Christmas is a time for baubles, bubbles . . . and burglaries, the Insurance Council is warning New Zealanders.
The SPCA and Dunedin City Council animal control team are looking out for two pit bull dogs reported missing from their Dunedin homes in the past week, but say the incidents are likely to be coincidence rather than something sinister.
Two rebuilt Subarus seized during drug raids in Dunedin last month are evidence vehicle "rebirthing" is happening in Dunedin, police say, but the scale of the problem is unknown.
