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A 10-year-old girl has died after being swept down the Marian Creek in Fiordland National Park today.

The RealNZ tourist vessel, The Fiordland Navigator, broadcast a mayday call after running aground in Doubtful Sound yesterday evening at 6.15pm.

The ‘people’s poet’ Hone Tuwhare has inspired four acclaimed printmakers to create a visual connection with the written word.

The dates for the 2024 NZ Mountain Film & Book Festival have been released and filmmakers and writers are invited to enter their work in the annual mountain film and book competitions.

The search is on for one local rangatahi (young person) to join a national mentoring programme designed to develop the leadership capability of young Māori across Aotearoa New Zealand.

He grew up tough as a Crown Terrace farm boy, destined for a life on the edge as an extreme adventurer - a journey that’s seen Jock Jeffery conquer undiscovered peaks from Pakistan to Peru, and sled through outer Greenland.

It’s shaping up to be a good season for foodies with a number of food truck events popping up around Queenstown. An array of food trucks take over the picturesque Red Barn each Thursday evening, and Country Lane from noon on the last Sunday of every month during summer. Sweet and savoury options are available as well as live music – the events have a family-friendly atmosphere.

It’s an age-old problem that Queenstown councils have faced for decades, ever since the Wakatipu’s now world-renowned beauty and charm has been luring visitors from around the world.

Queenstown Bike Fest 2024 "has been a blast" so far, says organiser Emmerson Wilken. The 10-day festival got underway on Friday with a Lake Jump at Steamer Wharf, with bikers pulling backflips and other tricks into Lake Wakatipu from a ramp, in front of a raucous crowd.

Alice Robinson has claimed a third-place finish at the FIS Giant Slalom World Cup held in Jasna, Slovakia overnight (NZT).

Kiwi icons the Topp Twins have been confirmed as the lead entertainment act for this year’s anticipated Wānaka A&P Show.

Host Brent Harbour talks to Suzanne Prentice, the Southland-based Trustee of the Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter Trust, and Graeme Gale, Managing Director of Helicopters Otago Ltd, that delivers the Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter service.

Hundreds of thousands of litres of partially treated human effluent spilled into a Queenstown swamp before it was stopped.

They may be relatively remote from the main urban areas but that hasn’t stopped the Glenorchy community from leading the charge in the southern region with its hugely successful door-to-door community composting programme.

South Island firearms owners, especially those from the Southern and Canterbury Police districts, are leading the way in the new Firearm Registry.

Freshwater anglers are being asked to keep an eye out for pest species after a grass carp was caught in an Otago lake. It is believed the carp was released into contained ponds near Queenstown, but may have escaped during spring floods and swum down river into Lake Dunstan, said Otago Fish and Game.

Sunday morning's torrential rain will have been welcomed by the lower South Island's rural firefighters. Last week, the fire risk was 'extreme' across the regions after weeks of dry hot summer days combined with windy conditions - turning the wooded hills and scrub into a tinderbox.

This Saturday Arrowtown Athenaeum Hall will be transformed to be a wee bit Scottish as it hosts Burns Night celebrations. The event, which is in honour of the 18th Century poet Robert Burns, will include a three-course meal, good craic, poetry readings, a band, traditional dance and drinks.

With the start of this new year, we’ve decided to re-activate The Tight Five as a summer series to inform, inspire and highlight the creative undercurrent of our district. First up for 2024 is sculptural artist Melissa Macleod.