A shared interest in the welfare of others is the secret to a long and happy marriage, according to one Oamaru couple who celebrated their Diamond Wedding anniversary this week.
Pet cats in Tekapo will stay locked inside for another five weeks in order to protect endangered kaki/black stilts recently released in the township.
Local government in New Zealand needs to wake up and get out of the ''Dark Ages'', by introducing technology to council meetings, a former regional councillor said this week.
The horse-racing world might still be mourning jockey Ashlee Mundy, who died after a fall at the Kurow races in December, but one former Oamaru jockey who suffered a horror fall believes jockeys will not be deterred.
A $1.6 billion Waitaki River hydro scheme is still being dubbed by energy company Meridian as ''New Zealand's best hydro opportunity'', even though the project has been mothballed during a nationwide slump in electricity demand, which power companies believe will last for at least five years.
Oamaru Scott 100 organisers are expecting an international panel of guests to attend four days of events to mark the arrival of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's ship Terra Nova to Oamaru in 1913.
Police in Omarama have handed out speeding tickets to overseas tourists demonstrating ''unacceptable behaviour'' over the past week.
The Ministry of Justice remains unrepentant for sending ''burly'' debt collectors to the home of a 16-year-old Oamaru boy, and is warning other teenage motorists age is no excuse for not paying fines.
Police are praising the sensible reactions of two mountaineers who found themselves trapped for two nights on Mt Tasman at the weekend.
Department of Conservation rangers say more ''galaxiid love'' is needed to help halt the decline of New Zealand's freshwater fish.
Richard and Christel Vinbrux left their home village of Roetgen, near the city of Aachen, Germany, 14 years ago, in search of a more sustainable way of life in New Zealand, and after buying a 14ha lifestyle block in Oamaru, the couple and their four children now preside over a menagerie of pigs, goats, chickens, bees and cows that has allowed them to become almost totally self-sufficient.
Waitaki District Council contractor John Clements is happy to see one of the council's Oamaru Christmas decorations back where it belongs. The $1000 decoration went missing from a Thames St pole, but after an appeal for its return, the decoration was found on the steps of the council offices yesterday morning.
Scientific tests are being carried out along the Kakanui River to find the reasons behind a sustained period of elevated E. coli levels.
A Lake Tekapo guided tour company fears that an alpine vista shown on the New Zealand $5 note could become lost to view at any moment, as the Hooker Glacier retreats at a rate of more than 2m every month.
A total fire ban imposed across Waitaki will stay in place for at least a large part of today, as rural firefighters continue to warn farmers of the dangers of conducting burn-offs in windy conditions.
The Waitaki District Council is looking for a $1000 Christmas decoration, which was stolen from a pole in the main street sometime between Christmas and New Year's Day.
Rural firefighters were greeted by the sight of a row of burning trees yesterday when they arrived at a rural fire near Georgetown, 22km inland from Oamaru.
Competitors in the Multi-Class National Gliding Championships took to the skies again on Monday after an enforced two-day break because of poor flying conditions.
Christmas campers leaving the Waitaki Lakes this week have expressed disappointment at the increase in litter and poor fishing conditions brought on by high lake levels after heavy rain and last week's hydro dam spills.
A new exhibition of photographs depicting streets in Kurow from 100 years ago, now on display at the Kurow Museum and Information Centre, will soon be better protected after the museum was awarded a $5000 grant to replace its leaky roof.
