Over the past 17 years the annual Waitaki Summer Music Camp has built up a reputation as a ''definite'' must-do for budding classical musicians, and although this year it has again attracted scores of keen musicians from around New Zealand, only four musicians from Oamaru turned up.
Those responsible for shooting five domesticated goats, one of which took five days to die, are being warned by police to expect hefty penalties.
Christmas Day saw Oamaru Hospital busier than usual, as at least one extra staff member was brought in to help deal with an influx of medical emergencies and mishaps.
Organisers of Sunday's Kurow races and jockeys have been left devastated by the death of jockey Ashlee Mundy.
Following the decision by Meridian Energy to start spilling water from Lake Pukaki on Wednesday, after days of heavy rain, more spills have taken place along the Waitaki Lakes hydro dams.
All Black captain Richie McCaw might be taking a six-month sabbatical from rugby, but that did not stop him pursuing his other great passion in Omarama yesterday.
After two decades holidaying at the same camping ground every Christmas and New Year, Oamaru couple Merv and Maire Carlyon are so much part of the furniture at the Waitaki Waters Holiday Park that they also double as an unofficial welcome committee, tourist guides and camp detectives.
Two trampers were found safe and well by a rescue helicopter yesterday, after they were reported to be four days overdue returning from a tramp in hill country near Ohau.
North Otago tourist attractions and holiday parks are experiencing a bumper holiday season this Christmas and expect the region will continue to benefit from boosted visitor numbers well in to the new year.
For the 26 families who make the annual Christmas pilgrimage to a 90-year-old fishing village on the Kakanui River, near Oamaru, there are no gaudy Christmas lights on display, no annual re-runs of Mary Poppins on television to suffer and no electricity to cook Christmas lunch - but that is the way they like it, and that is the way they want to keep it.
The flood threat to the Waitaki River, swelled by three days of heavy rain, has eased but holiday-makers in the Waitaki Lakes and at Lake Pukaki are still being warned of rising water levels as spilling starts from hydro lakes.
After overseeing a range of initiatives to support rural communities in North Otago during a three-year stint as Ahuriri Ward councillor on the Waitaki District Council and four years on the Ahuriri Community Board, Craig Dawson will bow out of local politics this year.
The epic journey of a Maori chief 135 years ago has been re-enacted by his modern-day descendants, who took four days to walk from the mouth of the Waitaki River to Omarama.
Hundreds of New Year revellers camping in the Waitaki Valley are facing the possibility of a holiday wash-out, with record rainfall predicted for the Southern Alps that could flood the Waitaki River.
A restaurateur credited with putting the tiny township of Moeraki on the culinary map has been recognised by Buckingham Palace in the New Year 2013 Royal Honours list.
A freight train seen ''belching flames'' along the railway line in North Otago was the cause of four scrub fires on Saturday morning, including one just a few hundred metres from heavy forest near Herbert.
A large crowd turned out to enjoy a flutter, a drop of Waitaki Valley wine and lashings of strawberries and cream under bright sunshine at the annual Kurow races yesterday. Organisers acknowledged they were fortunate with the weather.
An animal-loving Otematata farm worker said he felt ''physically sick'' after he returned from a Christmas holiday to find someone had yanked the display feathers from his pet rooster's tail.
For the second day in a row and armed with nothing more than quick wits, a turn of pace and a padded barrel, South Island bull-fighters Gary Topping, from Mosgiel, and Will Jamison, from Hawarden, yesterday risked life and limb to keep riders in the South Island rodeo circuit safe.
Military memorabilia collecting may seem like a bit of a macho pastime, but after 40 years collecting vehicles, uniforms and cannons from across New Zealand, Waimate collector Murray Dempster is adamant his extensive collection is more than just a bunch of ''guns 'n ammo''.
