Matthew Haggart

Renewed efforts in Parliament to amend Easter trading laws was "fantastic news", according to Wanaka Chamber of Commerce president Leigh Stock.

Outgoing Lake Wanaka Tourism chairman Steve Worley is tipping Wanaka Chamber of Commerce president Leigh Stock to step up and head the board, after his resignation was accepted at the organisation's annual meeting.

A visit to the Westland tourist towns of Franz Josef and Fox Glacier, famed for their towering twin glaciers, mountains, lush rainforest and rugged coastline, can be a revitalising experience, as Wanaka reporter Matthew Haggart found out.

A 15-year-old Wanaka secondary school pupil has been kicked out of Mount Aspiring College for smoking drugs during a lunch break.

The Upper Clutha Environment Society has been criticised in an Environment Court decision that dismisses its legal appeal against a Roys Peninsula property owner.

Home-made lures hooked the heaviest fish during the Lake Hawea Hotel Fishing Competition on Saturday.

Wanaka sports club administrators are becoming increasingly frustrated by what they claim is an ongoing council failure to adequately address the growing demand for sporting facilities in the resort.

Wanaka's only dedicated music store has been shut down by its Queenstown-based owners, Play It Again records, a decision which has forced independent radio station Wanaka Beats out on the street.

Irish helicopter pilot Ruth McCormack may have earned her wings recently, but at ground level she is usually left playing catch-up.

A search and recovery mission to find a helicopter engine missing after the final flight of Haast pilot Morgan Saxton, who died in a crash a year ago, will resume on Lake Wanaka this weekend.

The developers of a retirement village in Wanaka met a group of angry residents opposed to the plan on Tuesday.