Auckland

By PHILIP CHANDLER Wakatipu High’s musical talent rocks. Two Year 13 students have achieved amazing success in the national Smokefreerock quest competition for the second year running. Last year, as Haven, Ryan Connaghan and Harrison Maguire, both 17, along with Jack Wilson —...

By PHILIP CHANDLER Who said Queenstown doesn’t have a heart? Local woman Stacey McDonald’s blown away at the response when she asked Queenstown businesses to help an Aucklander with stage 4 skin cancer enjoy a trip of a lifetime. She’d put her...

By PHILIP CHANDLER This region’s wrested a prestigious Registered Master Builders (RMB) Association of NZ shield off Auckland for the first time. RMB’s Construction Shield, awarded to the region that signs up the most new members over a year, has been...

By PHILIP CHANDLER Queenstowners and visitors can now dine out on the resort’s rich maritime history. Named after an early paddlesteamer, The Mountaineer Room has opened as an annex to The Boat Shed cafe by the Frankton marina. It’s the work of...

By PHILIP CHANDLER If you’re still reeling at last week’s news that Queenstown’s missing out on hosting visiting Rugby Championship sides, there’s some ‘reely’ good news this week. A second series of Queenstown-based TV crime thriller One Lane Bridge has been...

By GUY WILLIAMS The long-term survival of Queenstown’s only wildlife park looks more assured after a financial lifeline from the government. The Kiwi Birdlife Park on Brecon Street is one of 28 similar facilities around the country that’ll get a slice...

By PHILIP CHANDLER Queenstown Primary’s trialling a music-teaching programme that could be rolled out in schools nationwide. The programme, called Play.music, is aimed at reversing the decline of music learning in schools, and is an adaptation of Britain’s user-friendly Charanga programme. At Queenstown...

In light of recent criticism of the government’s support for the tourism industry, and Queenstown businesses in particular, and the frustration of alert level restrictions, I have given more thought to what we should expect from our government leaders. I’ve...

It’s almost 40 years since The Exponents started taking New Zealand by storm with hits like Victoria and Why Does Love Do This To Me?  Original bassist, 58-year-old Dave Gent, talks to PHILIP CHANDLER about the band and how he got...

By TRACEY ROXBURGH It's finally go time for the SkyCity Stampede ice hockey team — but for the first time in its history, the team will be playing in an almost empty arena. Stampede manager Niel Frear says his team and the...

By MATTHEW MCKEW Queenstown faces the risk of becoming a retirement village, the mayor’s warning, amidst the latest slump in the resort’s economy. Jobseeker claims are up almost 1300% from where they stood before the Covid-19 outbreak, peaking with 525 claimants...

By MATTHEW MCKEW NZSki's said ‘thanks, but no thanks’ to the government after being offered just $500,000 of the $2.7 million it asked for. Chief executive Paul Anderson says the company behind Coronet Peak, The Remarks and Mt Hutt’s ‘‘grateful’’ but ‘‘respectfully declined’’...