A fire which gutted the historic Aparima Tavern at Riverton yesterday spread "unbelievably quickly", a customer says.

Catherine Smith enjoys the high life with great views at Matakauri Lodge.

An Auckland man has appeared in court in Brisbane today charged with trafficking synthetic cannabis into Australia.

Homes with excessively smoking chimneys in Otago's high air pollution towns will be targeted in coming months and residents given a deadline to "clear the air" as the battle to improve air quality intensifies.

Justine Tyerman goes for a hoon up the Dart River.

Many of the landmarks of the fabled Dunedin Sound of the 1980s can be visited on a relatively short and intriguing walk.

A holiday wildlife tour ended in hypothermia for four young women kayaking near Taiaroa Head, in Otago, yesterday.

An elderly woman's death in the Clutha River last year was due to ill-health and her being intoxicated, a coroner has ruled.

The main highway north of Balclutha remains closed this morning after a head-on crash in which a woman was killed and another seriously injured.

There was just one word to describe 82-year-old Central Otago farmer Rex George after the big snow: "buggered".

Following more than a week of heavy rain, floods and snow, Otago residents are being told to expect a slow return to normality.

Volunteers are urgently needed to help farmers access and feed stock on about 40 stations above 500m throughout Otago.

Five members of a Lake Hawea family were considered lucky to be alive last night after a runaway people mover crashed into their lounge.

A North Otago dairy worker had to be rescued from his motorbike in chest-deep floodwaters in Kakanui Valley yesterday.

Hayden Donnell hops on a bicycle to explore the newest trails around Queenstown.

What are believed to be the first prosecutions over Central Otago's rabbit problem are set to go to court next week.

Tallies from the annual Great Easter Bunny Hunt in Central Otago must have embarrassed the Otago Regional Council, as they revealed the ineffectiveness of its pest management, submitters said this week.

A Matakanui farmer hunting on his property at dusk lined up a shot, was alarmed by hearing two gun shots nearby then spotted a suspected poacher through his sights when a man ran across his potential field of fire in what police are calling a "near-miss".

An Otago woman and her family are "gutted" the killer of her teenage daughter will appear before the New Zealand Parole Board again next year, despite being denied parole earlier this week.

A driver in a crash that killed a young Otago man has been sentenced to two years and eight months in jail and disqualified from driving for four years.

A Milton woman has received an apology from the Inland Revenue Department after claims it ignored her pleas that her name and ID were being used fraudulently.