Local plumber Trampus Roberts poses in a mankini on the Kawarau Bridge bungy platform last Saturday during an extensive stag do that took in Queenstown, Cromwell, Luggate and Wanaka. Roberts, who had to wear a 16kg ball and chain for the night, marries Sarah Mackay at Ohau Lodge on November 1.

Call it a sign of protest. Some very clever but frustrated vandal has substituted “Upgrade Stage 1” for the word “desecration” on this Queenstown Lakes District Council sign along Gorge Road, and on both sides of another identical sign.

• Has PM Helen Clark stolen an acronym from Queenstown? Last week she launched Labour’s election housing policy under an initiative called HOPE – Home Ownership on the Public Estate. Last year, Queenstown Lakes District Council used the same moniker for its affordable housing strategy – except that HOPE stood for Housing Our People in Our Environment.