Queenstown news and more...

                  Wakatipu High is in defence-mode as it anticipates another below-average ranking in National Cert­ificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) results. »»

  Quake help: Queenstown-based Chilean Daniela Ibanez thinks of her homeland damaged by an earthquake last Saturday A CHILEAN woman in Queenstown whose mum was caught up in last Saturday’s devastating earthquake is staging a fundraiser for victims. »»

    Queenstowner Charlotte Carter (left) is swapping her Air New Zealand uniform for a hard hat and tool belt to help out in tsunami-battered Samoa.  She’s among eight of the airline’s nationwide staff chosen to help rebuild housing on the stricken South Pacific island. »»

   Cat saver: Kieren Flanagan helps two wild kittens adjust to domestic life Queenstown’s cat rescuers hope their inaugural street appeal will raise money to help control a growing number of strays. »»

  Times gone by: Frederic Ellis Adams was born in Arrowtown’s historic Granny Jones Cottage in 1933 It was an emotional stroll down memory lane for Frederic Ellis Adams when he revisited the historic Arrowtown cottage where he was born 76 years ago. »»

  Home schooling: Drama and music school co-founders Jenny Brinsley and son Thomas Four years ago teenager Thomas Brinsley left Queenstown to follow a path that would lead him to “getting paid for acting”. »»

  Hello world: Local artist Emma Butler’s ‘Ruby’ series may be mass-marketed internationally Local artist Emma Butler’s portrayal of Wakatipu landscapes has landed her a lucrative deal which could propel her work into international circles. »»

Queenstown will reactivate its sister-city relationship with Aspen.  Mayor Clive Geddes, following his unpublicised trip to the upmarket Colorado resort in the United States, says: “The Aspen sister-city group are very keen to get the relationship between Queenstown and Aspen active again, as it was seven or eight years ago.”   Queenstown Lakes District Council will put “some small resource” into »»

    Seventeen locals comprehensively beat the record for the largest mass swim of Lake Wakatipu last Saturday. The previous record for the 4.5km swim from Cecil Peak to Queenstown Bay was set three years ago by six swimmers, including Act Party leader Rodney Hide. »»

  Irish charm: Five-a-side New Zealand team (from left) Conor Brennan, Joe Savage, David Buckley, John Ryan, Gavin Grant, Pete Botham and Mikey Ryan The Irish are going to the soccer World Cup – just not in South Africa. »»