Hamish MacLean

For the second year in a row, Moeraki’s yellow-eyed penguin colonies have suffered a "terrible" outbreak of the mysterious disease that could threaten the species in mainland New Zealand.

An interim measure could be needed for the Moeraki Boulders turnoff while the New Zealand Transport Agency looks for the "perfect solution",  Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher says.

Heritage New Zealand has begun to meet submitters on its proposed extension of the Oamaru historic area.

Driving out on to State Highway 1 from Moeraki is like playing ''Russian roulette'' every day, locals say in the wake of another fatal crash.

When earthquakes rocked the upper South Island, it was not only humans who were affected - pets were as well.

The sun finally came out as Merle Bradley, of Hokitika, completed her four-day mission in a wheelchair from Lake Tekapo to Oamaru, on the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail, smiling.

Just 5.3% of the South-East Marine Protection Forum’s coastal area from Timaru to Waipapa Point in Southland has been proposed as marine reserves after a "controversial" two-year process.

Otago and Southland are rallying for their earthquake-affected neighbours.

A little-understood disease has ravaged mainland New Zealand’s two largest yellow-eyed penguin colonies this year, and the volunteers who look after the birds are "heartbroken" by the loss.

"The lady with the lamp", Florence Nightingale, returned to London after the Crimean War ended  in 1856, but might turn up in Oamaru 160 years later.

Upgrading the Brydone Hotel in Oamaru will be the immediate focus of the Oamaru Licensing Trust this term,  trust chairman Ali Brosnan says.

Resource recovery centres around Otago opened their doors to ''zero waste'' enthusiasts this week.