Shawn McAvinue

An exclusive area to exercise little dogs in Dunedin has been officially opened.

A Wanaka mountain guiding company will not return to Mt Everest for the rest of the season, as trekking organisations with valid permits cancel remaining treks.

The Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter had to leave its own birthday party on Saturday during an ''extremely busy'' weekend of missions.

The battered face of a Dunedin student has made him a campus celebrity.

A much-loved scholar and soldier was honoured as part of the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival yesterday.

Author Witi Ihimaera was quizzical at the official launch of the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival last night, posing the question: where is New Zealand literature heading?

Birds of prey are shared muses of English author Helen Macdonald and Dunedin author Neville Peat.

Police are investigating ways to retrieve John Beckenridge's Volkswagen Touareg from the sea near Curio Bay but the work was ''on hold'' until tomorrow or Wednesday, a police spokesman said.

A Dunedin woman whose close encounter with a pig left her nursing bruises says she holds no grudge against the ''smelly'' swine.

All aboard the love train to Middlemarch.

The drainage issues at Brighton Domain have been dragging on too long, a new Dunedin City Council staff member says.

And they're off. The Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival opens today with the mass book launch Chain Reaction at the Athenaeum Library tonight.

Speed-dating has died a slow death in the South as singles prefer to hook up on smartphones.

A potent play exploring prostate health and other middle-age issues opens in Dunedin tonight.

Commissioners Robert and Janine Donaldson launched the Salvation Army's Red Shield Appeal in Dunedin on Friday.

If the warm waters of Otago Therapeutic Pool closed, members of an aqua aerobics classes would be ''deeply saddened''.

Local Maori say they have no plans to reduce bag limits or limit access for recreational fishing in Otago Harbour.

A wind gust uprooted a mature tree in North Dunedin yesterday and put it in the path of traffic.

A Clutha farmhouse was ''practically destroyed'' by fire yesterday.