Christina McDonald

"The coffee machines just went all day" and there was everything from bacon butties to specialty cheese on offer.

The weather was near perfect for the closing weekend of the Queenstown Winter Festival.

Carrick McLellan, of the Wakatipu Premiers, is tackled by a Cromwell player during Saturday's match.

The competition was fierce and competitors a little oddly dressed at Coronet Peak on Saturday.

Queenstown Mayor Vanessa van Uden was forced to use her casting vote to retain the Arrowtown electoral ward yesterday, despite initially wanting to reduce councillor numbers in the interests of cost saving.

A Queenstown resident with Samoan heritage is aiming to gather local Polynesian people in the hopes of injecting the resort with a "culture boost".

The woman who says she found a piece of glass in a Kit Kat chunky bar provided by a Queenstown hotel came away from a meeting with two Nestle representatives disappointed.

Despite the seasonal nature of skifield work, 63% of workers at the NZski skifields - which include Coronet Peak and the Remarkables - are returning staff.

Holiday park owners have been told they have "an opportunity across the board to make some improvements" in preparation for a expected tourism influx.

The long-awaited digital closed-circuit television cameras installed last week in Queenstown crime "hot spots" have had teething problems.

Ten closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras worth a total of $150,000 and with the ability to capture clear facial images were installed in Queenstown yesterday, and will be switched on before the start of the Winter Festival today.

During a visit to the mobile Olympic museum Queenstown Primary School year 3 pupils Naomi Mitchell (seated), Stevie McFadgen and Hannah Winter learnt about New Zealand's Olympic history.

After the avalanche on Mt Taranaki last week, snow enthusiasts should be aware similar situations can and do occur on Southern mountains.

The online petition created by Glenorchy woman Patricia Ko opposing the proposed Milford Dart tunnel has made international headlines with the growing number of signatures it is receiving.

While Wayne Allen's overall aim for the Winter Festival is to execute the 10 days without catastrophe, he also hopes that "when nothing happens, hopefully it was planned and wasn't just luck".