Springs Junction - the tiny settlement connecting State Highways 7 and 65 - now boasts two food caravans as well as a service station and cafe both operating 24/7.

It's the biggest cruise ship to visit and likely the most valuable machine to call at New Zealand.

An immediate focus was being put on upgrading State Highway 63 near St Arnaud in the weeks leading up to the very busy Christmas-New Year travel period.

A truck has rolled, blocking one lane of State Highway 7 - the temporary main road between Picton and Christchurch.

Canterbury's Highway Patrol is reminding motorists to drive with caution while the Lewis Pass alternate highway (State Highway 7)

Motorists travelling the alternative route between Christchurch and Picton have been caught up in heavy congestion today, as traffic pressure mounts on the post-quake thoroughfare.

Cook Strait ferries are up and running after Monday's earthquake.

An alternative inland route for ferry traffic has been established running from Picton to Christchurch, via Murchison and the Lewis Pass.

Businesses in quake-hit areas will be paid to keep on staff for at least eight weeks, the Govt says.

Picton man Rob Burn captured a telling photo of a collapsed shop front in Picton. Twisted metal and bricks from the shop's façade

Interislander ferry sailings have been cancelled, along with all trains on the North Island Main Trunk Line south of Palmerston North.

Scott Watson has always claimed he is innocent of the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope.

A group of Scott Watson supporters today began a series of marches to highlight their case that he is wrongly imprisoned for the Marlborough Sounds murders.

A man has been rescued by helicopter after his float plane crashed in the Marlborough Sounds this evening. The Nelson Marlborough

A Picton businessman is fighting to put the picturesque Marlborough township - quite literally - on the map.

A message in a bottle found in the Chatham Islands has helped solve the mystery of another letter in a bottle found on Nelson's Boulder Bank more than a decade ago.

A wreck of a yacht found on the sea floor of Picton Harbour may be a 1970s commercial vessel, police say.

Divers inspect the wreck of a yacht found on the sea floor of Picton Harbour.

The fire service was called to the scene of a suspected gas leak at the Picton ferry terminal last night.

The Interislander Arahura ferry's replacement will go into service this spring, bearing the new name of Kaiarahi.

Three boats were seized and three men arrested after police found a 25kg cannabis stash on a yacht in Waikawa Bay in the Marlborough Sounds.

A decision not to move the interisland ferry terminal from Picton to Clifford Bay has resulted in KiwiRail land being sold to a wine grower.

Soaring to 1000m above sea level, out of control, vomiting, and heading for the Pacific Ocean, Howard Hudson thought he was going to die.

Firefighters have contained a large bush fire that came dangerously close to destroying the main power feed between the North and South Islands.

Two firefighters were injured, two houses destroyed and residents evacuated by helicopter as a bushfire was fanned by strong winds and raged out of control yesterday.

The owners of a Picton house hit by a landslip yesterday have been told the property is temporarily unfit to live in.

Residents of a Picton house escaped injury today when a landslip hit their home and broke through a wall, as torrential rain lashed central New Zealand today.

A decision to keep the South Island ferry terminal base in Picton has been met with celebration in the Marlborough town.

Picton will remain as the southern terminal for the interisland ferries, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee announced today.