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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.

He’s been a trader from a young age, not the big-time stock exchange kind, more of the down-home big-hearted Darryl kind - a man with a huge heart for his community, always keen to share his great love of the outdoors.

The conflict in the Middle East has prompted increased interest in multi-million-dollar New Zealand properties, the head of a luxury real estate company says. Changes to the so-called Golden Visa came into effect a year ago, and Immigration Minister Erica Stanford recently updated the investment that had been made so far.

There’s something quietly powerful about a song that everyone in the room already knows.

Belgian international pianist and composer Daniel Verstappen returns in April. He will perform at Te Atamira and create music inspired by his travels, at Sublime Studio in the Waitaki Valley.

Australians warned – Sling shot fired: two young Australian men were arrested for wilful damage and formally warned after Police received a report of what sounded like a possible shot being fired through a glass window at 9pm on Tuesday, 7 April, following a parking dispute at a downtown Queenstown Airbnb property.

Artist Kasia Hebda will present a two-day immersive weekend workshop to give your creativity strong technical foundations.

A business association says Easter Sunday trading rules are confusing and need an overhaul. Restrictions on alcohol sales have just been eased, so that venues that could already open over Easter can now sell alcohol to customers without the requirement they buy a meal.

She’s been a natural at hospitality since she was thrown in the deep end of the deep fryer in Queenstown in 2015 launching a new fish and chip venture with husband Erik Arndt, former King Country farmers always keen to take on something new.

Winter hasn’t arrived yet, but for many in our community, the financial worry already has.

Proud to be celebrating the 40th year of community spirit, Arrowtown Autumn Festival will bring amazing food, wine, arts, music, sporting events and more to town in April.

An overseas man in his 50s and his female passenger miraculously escaped uninjured when the black Audi they were in plummeted 100m to 120m down the steep rocky, tussock drop off the Crown Range Summit lookout car park at around 3.30pm on Tuesday, 31 March.

We all know our district is a leading tourist destination, and we all feel the impact of record numbers coming to the jewel in New Zealand’s tourism crown.

She’s owned and operated seven restaurants and bars in a career spanning more than 30 years – a multi-tasking maestro, managing to maintain a calm, welcoming smile while juggling multiple hospo roles.

We all know the feeling of reaching into the fridge and finding a fossilised carrot or a slushy courgette.

Mental Health by Katherine Froggatt