A prominent Queenstown hotelier who breached fisheries rules by operating "bucket list" heli-crayfish excursions for high-paying guests has been granted a discharge without conviction.

People in and near Queenstown had a jolt from an earthquake last night, centred about 30km west of the resort town.

Hearings for retrospective consents to allow the Shotover wastewater treatment plant to discharge treated wastewater directly into the Shotover River will take place in the Environment Court.

It is quite the transformation.

The godfather of Central Otago wine, former Queenstowner Alan Brady, had waited 38 years to open one of the earliest bottles ever produced in this renowned wine region’s modern history.

Despite Queenstown’s reputation for adventure tourism, it’s little known we’re home to New Zealand’s largest and most globally diverse adventure travel company.

He may have run a humble burger joint, and much later an even more humble pie shop, but Mike Burke, who has died aged 78, was one of Queenstown’s great characters over the 25 years he lived in town.

Having lost their semifinals the past two seasons, the Wakatipu Premiers rugby side’s amped to go one better this Saturday.