Online Editor

It could be up to a year before the mounted remains of hermit sheep Shrek are unveiled at Te Papa, despite the famed merino having been at the Wellington museum for almost a year.

Mystery surrounds the movements of a long-lost wedding ring which recently resurfaced in a Dunedin garage, nearly 30 years after it went missing during a rugby match several kilometres away.

A $25 million hot pools complex is one of two major private commercial developments being considered for alongside a proposed Queenstown convention centre.

Rhythm and Alps organisers say although future festivals will require ''tweaks'' following mixed reviews from some who attended, they are ''ecstatic'' with the event's success at its new site in the Cardrona Valley.

An ''astronomical'' rise in mobile data consumption in the Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes districts is causing headaches for Telecom customers, particularly in Wanaka.

Forensic scientists have made ''some progress'' towards identifying the object which struck and killed motorist Rutger Hale near Lake Hawea seven weeks ago, police say.

It will be all or nothing for Scott Wilson when he takes on the demands of the longest day section of the Coast to Coast on February 15.

This year's only Canterbury-based Nuffield scholar plans to use his prize to find sustainable ways to support and advance the long-term economic contribution made by New Zealand's bees.

A rock climber was seriously injured in a fall at a popular climbing spot near Wanaka yesterday afternoon.

Smashing crockery, throwing gumboots and straining against a horizontal bungy were among the family fun activities at the Upper Clutha Presbyterian Parish's annual holiday gala at the Wanaka Showgrounds on Saturday.

An exhibition at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, a special report on museums in The Economist and the success of Toitu Otago Settlers Museum's new galleries shed light on enduring challenges for museums - and point to new opportunities.

Animal-loving Wanaka woman Buffy Paterson has big plans for her fledgling pet rescue programme, which will hold its first adoption day today at Wanaka's annual holiday gala.

Although windy, wet weather meant popular Lake Hawea music festival ''Summerlands'' struggled to live up to its name again yesterday, organisers were ''stoked'' conditions were an improvement on last year.

Dodging bucking bulls and broncos is all in a day's work for rodeo clown Richard Robinson, yet speed and agility are not necessities for the job, he says.

The ongoing coverage failures frustrating Telecom mobile customers in Wanaka is having a positive spin-off for rival network Vodafone.

There was barely an umbrella, gumboot, tarpaulin or poncho left for sale in Wanaka yesterday morning as panic-buying Rhythm and Alps revellers flooded into the resort amid several hours of heavy rainfall.

Make no mistake, Wanaka's newest arts festival, Outspoken, is ''about as far away from reciting poetry as you can get'', its founders insist.

Mystery surrounds the occupant of one of the smallest huts you will ever see, hidden away on Bendigo Station. Lucy Ibbotson discovers a hut untouched by time.

A 74-year-old photograph brought together a trio of Dunedin residents yesterday who - though previously unknown to each other - share the same sentimental link to a piece of Haast history.