Challenge Wanaka race director Victoria Murray-Orr says high lake levels and a partly submerged run course are no cause for concern - yet. The long-distance triathlon is scheduled for Saturday, January 19, and organisers have been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast and rising lake and river levels after several days of heavy rainfall.
Two Dunedin students rescued from remote bush near Lake Hawea after their two-day tramping trip took a bad turn last weekend say the biggest lesson learned from their ordeal is to always carry a locator beacon in the back country.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden's election campaign promise to further reduce council spending on consultants has been realised, financial records show.
Getting up at 3am to cycle to Dunedin is all in a day's training for Wanaka GP and multisporter Andrew McLeod (53), who is ''reasonably confident'' he can complete a double-length Challenge Wanaka long-distance triathlon in 10 days' time.
Ask the family behind Upper Clutha company Templeton and Sons Engineering Ltd for a list of the benefits and drawbacks of sharing a workplace with relatives, and they are stuck for an answer.
Nearly 70 community organisations, social service agencies and arts and performance groups have confirmed their interest in being part of a proposed community house for Wanaka, in the project's latest feasibility study.
Landscapes again feature prominently among entries for the annual Aspiring Art Prize, which will be judged on Friday evening.
The Wanaka Tennis Club is hosting its biggest tournament yet, thanks to an American college team which has significantly boosted both the quality and size of the field.
Just one day into their planned two-week riverside camping holiday in the Lindis Pass, Christchurch woman Peta Pool and her grandson Justice (16) were facing a long drive back to Canterbury after their pop top caravan burnt to the ground yesterday.
The redevelopment of what used to be called the Otago Settlers Museum is undoubtedly a great success. But there are concerning issues surrounding it which need some careful thought.
Since Sir Edmund Hillary claimed his world-first ascent in 1953, New Zealand climbers have established a global reputation on Mt Everest. At the forefront are climbers from the Wanaka-Hawea area. Lucy Ibbotson reports.
Spurred by the continuing growth of Wanaka's wedding sector, cake designer Clare Pennell and florist Jenny Clark have organised a ''Weddings in Wanaka'' expo, targeting the hundreds of prospective brides and grooms among the resort's large holiday population.
Steve Hepburn identifies the top five stories in Otago sport in 2012.
After 40 years in the job, Hyde horseman Mick Prendergast (79) has no intention of retiring from the handicappers' role at the annual Hawea picnic races.
University of Otago physical education student Emma Luxton hopes Arsenal's loss will be the Coast to Coast's gain.
Yesterday marked a changing of the guard at the Hawea Picnic Races, as volunteer Judy Muir (67) spent the day training up her successor in order to step aside after 45 years in the betting booth, 20 of which she spent running the equalisator operation.
Once an area bustling with activity during and after the Central Otago gold rush, the Nine Mile historic reserve in the Lindis Valley is now an idyllic riverside camping and picnic spot steeped in heritage. Lucy Ibbotson visited the reserve on Boxing Day.
Uncorking problems, rather than bottling them up, is the answer to resolving rifts between relatives who work together on a daily basis, Sarah Mills tells reporter Lucy Ibbotson. The wine analogy is a fitting one for the Mills family, who founded Wanaka's Rippon Vineyard 30 years ago and still carry forward a century-old family legacy.
Tickets to the re-staging of the Ruby Island Cabaret on the tiny island in Lake Wanaka in February, after an absence of 80 years, are more than three-quarters sold, and preparations for the musical event are well under way.
A group of Sydney-based car enthusiasts who travelled to Wanaka to see a rare Duesenberg car at Wanaka's Warbirds and Wheels visitor attraction yesterday said it was well worth the trip.
