By all accounts it was one for the record books.

A man sought by officers investigating a Queenstown assault on New Year's Day has contacted police.

One person was taken to hospital following a high-speed, head-on collision in the Kawarau Gorge this morning.

Queenstown woman Ella Wilson says she wanted to cry when she was found out she had been recognised in the New Year Honours list, for her work in the community and theatre.