The start of delivery of more than 16,000 letters and parcels by New Zealand Post is better late than never for hundreds of Wakatipu residents.

The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind received almost half a million dollars from a Dunedin couple yesterday, following a spirited auction in Queenstown.

Wakatipu residents will receive an apology from New Zealand Post when their lost mail is delivered to their homes on Sunday.

Six Christchurch post boxes have been broken into and the mail stolen, in what is being called a targeted criminal activity.

It was one of the most innovative ideas in New Zealand tourism but 45 years after the Skyline gondola in Queenstown carried its first passengers to the top of Bob's Peak, the company behind it has achieved more than anyone believed possible.

Another 10,000 pieces of undelivered mail have been discovered in a room at a storage company by Queenstown police.

Six weeks after a Queenstown parking officer was allegedly threatened and his ticket machine thrown into Lake Wakatipu, a 28-year-old Invercargill man has turned himself in.

A little peace came yesterday for the family of Carolina Patron Costas when her mother, father and brother visited the scene of her death last week following a crash on one of the Wakatipu's busiest roads.

A female pilot has been killed in a helicopter crash near Wanaka this evening.

Queenstown bouncer Jonathan Dixon was remanded on bail on two separate charges yesterday at the Invercargill District Court.

Sarah Ivey is dropped among the pinnacles of the Remarkables Range in the Southern Alps by heli-ski in the search for white powder magic.

Jumping out of a plane proves a great way to relax, writes Bronwyn Sell.

Squashed food, litter and even human faeces were found onboard the TSS Earnslaw by crew.

Belinda Henley samples of the resort town's newest foodie offerings... and some old favourites.