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Amongst Queenstown-Lakes’ world-class wide-open spaces is a passionate community grappling with growing pains.

From speeds clocked at up to 140km/hr to festival-going drink drivers allegedly well over the legal limit, some driving only a short distance to get home, Police say they were out in force “with a razor-sharp focus” these past few weeks.

Funny woman Harriet Moir will bring her bold and brave new solo comedy show, Just Eat the Damn Sausage, to Sherwood in May.

Becky Osmond is the Cancer Society’s expert Prosthetics Service Coordinator, and she will be coming to Queenstown for free fittings on May 14.

He was one of Queenstown most loved hospitality characters, everybody’s mate, during his 30 years owning and running the then Chico’s Restaurant and Nightclub – a popular, late night Queenstown venue.

After five weeks of steady progress, the Women’s Shed in Queenstown is nearing completion, with its long-awaited permanent home set to open to the community in May.

In 2016, I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. I had a mastectomy, endured chemotherapy so severe my oncologist recommended I stop early, and came out the other side looking, to everyone around me, completely fine. “Oh, you look fantastic!” people said. I could not bear it.

That’s a wrap folks! Summer has departed. I think most of us are still waiting for it to arrive!

Kiwi Park Queenstown is delighted to announce and celebrate a new arrival! A baby kiwi hatched at our site on 26 March. This is the first successful hatching at our park for two years.

Brazen thieves have continued to hit local tradies hard targeting expensive tools, this time in nighttime smash-and-grab-style vehicle break-ins on work vehicles parked outside their homes.

Five local men have been arrested by the Queenstown CIB on alleged cocaine charges in the last two weeks, with Police warning such activities will not be tolerated. Sergeant Blair Duffy says the five men were arrested for the alleged sale and supply of cocaine – a Class A drug.

Te Atamira will host Whakapapa by Jolt Dance next week. The performance shares the stories of six dancers with intellectual disabilities, exploring identity, culture and ancestral connection through dance, text and films.

With a spate of property fires around the Wakatipu Basin in recent months, the most recent destroying a tiny house at Glenorchy last Wednesday, Fire and Emergency NZ staff are warning people to take basic precautions.

He was a pretty skinny cat himself, but Colin Cloudesley was best known in Queenstown for his Fatz Cat Restaurant (Ristorante Italiano), knowledge of Italian food, and Italian impersonations, despite having not an ounce of Italian blood in his veins.

On Wednesday, 29 April, Altrusa will be holding their annual Quiz night.

Construction is progressing well on Coronet Peak’s new SnowFactory as NZSki gears up for a guaranteed early start to winter. While temperatures in Queenstown reached freezing levels this week, Coronet Peak and TechnoAlpin crew have been busy up the mountain installing the $2million-plus SnowFactory, which will eventually be capable of producing 200 cubic metres of snow each day. For perspective, the SnowFactory could cover an entire rugby field with 10cm of snow in just over three days.

Rock Tenors will bring their new show to Queenstown next week, performing a celebration of some of the greatest rock hits.

Burglars have been targeting newly completed Jack’s Point homes and construction sites nabbing spray painting equipment and paint worth nearly $17,000 recently, prompting Police to warn tradies and homeowners to beware.

Fire completely engulfed and destroyed a sleepout-tiny house in Birley Rise, just outside Glenorchy, yesterday afternoon (15 April), with two volunteer Queenstown Fire crews and a Glenorchy Fire crew all involved in fighting the blaze, which started about 2.30pm.

In a positive step for Queenstown's event scene, Ayrburn's 2026 series including the Ayrburn Car Classic, Carl Cox, and The Dudes has achieved an average of 80% diversion from landfill. This means that four-fifths of the waste generated at these popular gatherings was kept out of dumpsites through recycling, composting, or other reuse methods, rather than being buried and forgotten.