Dunedin

Surrounded by family and friends and with a firm grip on her treasured cellphone, Dunedin woman Connie Nelson was in good spirits at the weekend as she celebrated yet another milestone birthday.

It was a walk back down the family tree for an Australian woman at Larnach Castle yesterday.

It is large, but not quite large enough to be a big sister — more of a twin perhaps.

A Dunedin primary school pupil descended from a family of Soviet-era circus performers jumped at the chance to show off her Russian roots.