James Beech

Reading Cinemas Queenstown is literally rolling out the red carpet and opening all three auditoriums at the same time for the first screening of The Hobbit at 12.01am on Wednesday.

Today 7pm: Singer-guitarist Brian John Foden delivers jazz and blues classics for the Friday Jazz Club in Les Alpes. Free.

Fine cuisine, good company, music and sunshine were on the menu for 300 residents and visitors at the Arrowtown Long Lunch on Sunday.

Young people seeking a career with a high level of transferable skills and older trades people considering a change in career are the focus of a recruitment roadshow coming to Queenstown.

The 2012 The Hills Cure Kids Open near Arrowtown attracted its largest field yet of 94 amateur golfers in 25 teams and raised more than $100,000 - its most yet - for research into life-threatening illnesses.

The first deliveries of more than 16,000 overdue letters and parcels by New Zealand Post yesterday was a case of better late than never for hundreds of Wakatipu residents.

The original recipients of the proceeds from the popular Arrowtown Long Lunch yesterday decided to "pay it forward" to the family of a baby girl from Arrowtown who is fighting a cancerous tumour.

Work is soon to begin on the floor of one of most used community rooms in Queenstown for the first time in its 107-year history.

A Department of Conservation Wakatipu area ranger, the Glenorchy Volunteer Fire Brigade and Naseby have been praised by Film New Zealand for their critical support of The Hobbit.

Early bird tickets for the 2013 Classic Hits Winery Tour end today.

Traditional folk songs from the British Isles distinguish the spring concert by the Central Otago Regional Choir and members of the Central Otago Regional Orchestra in Queenstown tomorrow.

Father Christmas (Alan Davis), helpers (from left) Lily Brabant (11), of Arthurs Point, Amelia Wikstrom (7), of Lower Shotover, and Louis Brabant (9), of Arthurs Point, and an all-singing, all-dancing cast of 150 are in the final rehearsals this week for the Shotover Jet Christmas Spectacular.

Prospective patrons are already eagerly entering the Boat Shed Cafe and Bistro at Frankton Marina, even before it officially opens its doors for business tomorrow.

The 136-year-old Arrowtown Jail and the 126-year-old Bullendale dynamo are the first projects selected by the Wakatipu Heritage Trust for an estimated $180,000 worth of restoration each.

Just over a month since Communications and Information Technology Minister Amy Adams joined ultrafast broadband (UFB) partner Chorus and members of the Queenstown community to herald the start of work to build a world-class UFB network in the resort, James Beech asks what the $135 billion project really means for Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes district.

The first large Christmas tree to brighten Queenstown in more than 17 years drew smiles of approval from Wakatipu residents yesterday.

The Wakatipu Anglican Parish is well on the way to establishing a family support worker after a record $14,020 was raised from the annual market day on Saturday.

Shotover Jet is the highest-ranking Queenstown attraction (at 49) in AA Tourism's new "101 Must-Do's for Kiwis", while scenic wonders in Fiordland were the highest in the South.