Aballoon the size of Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium is scheduled to lift off above the scenic Central Otago town of Wanaka on Tueday and float 34km into space.

The wife of Steve Combe, the Wanaka pilot killed in a helicopter crash, says her husband was 'larger than life'.

The death of two tourists whose campervan was swept away in a slip was the result of a "tragic coming together of a number of events", a coroner has found.

Police have found a sleeping bag and other items believed to belong to missing climber Simon Bell.

As search efforts continue, police are piecing together the last known whereabouts of missing climber Simon Bell.

A mountaineer aiming to conquer a record 100 NZ peaks - and who once saved a companion's life in a daring rescue - is missing in Mt Aspiring National Park.

A base jumper has completed what is believed to be New Zealand's biggest base jump, with a vertical drop of almost 2km.

Friends of Scott "Brock" Oliver are coming to terms with news the lively DJ and journalist is presumed drowned after going missing in high country.

A "one-off" drug deal at a Wanaka preschool has resulted in two teachers having their registrations torn up.

Volunteering circles in Wanaka have been left devastated by the death of Maureen "Mo" Schofield, who slipped and fell 40m while walking the Fern Burn Track on Monday.

A 68-year-old woman who died after slipping and falling about 40m from a walking track near Wanaka has been identified as Maureen Anne Schofield.

A 69-year-old Wanaka woman died yesterday after slipping and falling about 40m from a Department of Conservation walking track near Glendhu Bay, Wanaka.

Wanaka man Duncan Boswell has won his battle to get to Gallipoli. He and son Rhys will be part of the New Zealand contingent attending the centenary of the World War I Anzac campaign.

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Three people killed in a horror smash in Central Otago this afternoon were all foreign nationals, police say.

A prosecution could be in the wind for TradeMe founder Sam Morgan, after a burn-off on his property on Tuesday blanketed Wanaka in smoke.

Thick smoke from a farmer's burn-off blanketed Wanaka for much of yesterday afternoon, angering some residents and perplexing tourists.

Police are still in the dark as to what caused a Dutch visitor to lie down on a dimly-lit Wanaka road before he was run over by a taxi and killed last weekend.

As an inquest begins into the death of Rutger Hale from a mystery object that smashed through his car windscreen, his family say they believe someone knows what happened.

A Dutch pedestrian killed when he was hit by a taxi in Wanaka at the weekend may have been lying on the road at the time, police say.

Police have not ruled out that a man struck and killed by a car in Wanaka overnight was lying in the road when he was hit.

A group of friends who were on board a helicopter that crashed last weekend - killing one of them - have paid tribute to a "bloody good mate" who lived for adventure.

A ski industry worker who died in a sleep-out fire near Wanaka in the early hours of yesterday morning has been named by police.

A person is dead following a house fire in Wanaka overnight.

On a scenic flight in the south, Elizabeth Carlson gets into the pilot's seat.