Nine ducklings survived a deadly dash across a motorway yesterday afternoon. Their mother wasn't so lucky.

A judge has labelled an Arrowtown road rage incident as an "appalling piece of behaviour" while a couple was assaulted while their kids were in the car.

Elisabeth Easther finds a small South Island town that rocks and regularly dances.

A quick-thinking fast-food worker extinguished a bus fire in Dunedin.

On an insider tour of Dunedin's hidden treasures, Eleanor Ainge Roy discovers the other Edinburgh deserves a second glance.

COMMENT: I think we have a winner for Lawyer of the Year. The award goes to the wizard who side-stepped jail time for Nikolas Delegat.

The sentence given to Nikolas Delegat for assaulting a policewoman has been widely condemned.

Air accident investigators have interviewed the five passengers on board a helicopter that rolled over on landing near Queenstown yesterday afternoon.

The police officer who was knocked unconscious by a rich-lister's son in an alcohol-fuelled attack was also attacked by a young man five years ago.

Parts of the country are experiencing balmy summer-like temperatures as the mercury soared above 20C at lunchtime today.

A Dunedin mother fears for her daughter's safety after she was knocked unconscious by the same teenager in two assaults in as many months.

An ambulance officer is being treated for moderate injuries after an ambulance hit ice and slid off the road on the Southern Motorway near Dunedin tonight.

The 15-year hospital food service contract with the Compass Group had to be renegotiated because so few DHBs had joined, it has emerged.

Mount Aspiring College's principal says the school will try to continue with business as usual.

Two 13-year-old schoolgirls 'had a scrap'' at McDonald's Restaurant in George St yesterday afternoon, police said.

The Arrowtown couple left homeless after their rental property went up in smoke on Friday have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the Wakatipu.

A Mt Aspiring College pupil is being treated for meningococcal disease in Dunedin Hospital.

A mourning family is preparing for the possibility the man who pleaded guilty to causing a crash which killed Dunedin man Riley Baker may never serve prison time.

From eco tours to distillery visits, there's plenty to fill a holiday here.

The mother of murdered Owaka teen Kylie Smith says she is "absolutely delighted" to have five years off from having to argue to keep

A man who drank a bottle of bourbon before driving his vehicle to a police station to talk to police was jailed for six months.

A student is held in custody after being charged with possession of amphetamine and steroids while on bail awaiting trial for other drugs charges.

The man who raped and killed Owaka teenager Kylie Smith will remain behind bars for at least another five years.

Pavlina Pizova, who survived a month in a remote hut on the Routeburn Track, broke down in tears as she spoke about her fight for survival.

This lovely spot comes with barrels of history, some of it millions of years old, as Elisabeth Easther discovers.

A tramper is believed to have fallen to his death on the Routeburn track.

Tennessy Weir checks into a lakefront hotel with a beautiful garden.

Chinese national Limin Ma has admitted causing the death of Dunedin man Riley Baker in a head-on crash when he crossed the centre line to view the ocean.

An Otago Uni student who discovered four unknown women trashing his Hyde St flat yesterday says crime on the North Dunedin party street is "getting worse".

Convicted killer Colin Bouwer will remain behind bars after requesting parole be declined at his latest hearing.