Christina McDonald

Any trace of the unsavoury weather which has plagued the beginning of 2014 in Queenstown disappeared on Saturday for the 99th Lake Hayes A&P Show.

Antony Sproull may still describe himself as ''new to flying'' but last night he returned from a 10-day journey co-piloting a near-new $2 million Cessna Caravan from Athens, Greece, to Queenstown.

Unusual for the opening of a $30 million centre attended by Acting Prime Minister Bill English was a lack of footwear that was almost de rigueur for guests at the ceremony.

Sydney twins Imogen and Freya Wadlow (18) have a busy week ahead of them.

Throughout Otago, people with a love of food and fresh produce are turning out amazing products. For some it is just a hobby, for others it has turned into their livelihood. Christina McDonald reports.

Department of Conservation staff will today continue planning a detour around the flooded parts of the Dart Valley Track following a landslip at Sandy Bluff, about 10km above Chinamans Bluff.

For 10 years Stu Tripney has tried unsuccessfully to catch a fish he refers to as his ''best mate'' and he guesses the fish probably only has another few years to live.

At Labour Weekend, management of the Queenstown Lakes District Council's four main holiday parks was taken over by a newly formed private company, Council Camps Revitalised Ltd.

Two lost dogs are causing heartache for a three-legged pug and their owner who have walked for hours together trying to find them.

Growing vegetables or fruit in your own backyard has made a comeback. Christina McDonald learns from an old hand how it's done in Queenstown.

It's been in gelatos in Wellington, and meals and chocolate in Queenstown, but the next job for the lavender at Ben Lomond Lavender is likely to be as a backdrop for a growing number of tourist and wedding photos.

Perception was ''actually more important than the reality'', Cr Cath Gilmour said during a discussion by the Queenstown Lakes District Council on whether to select a councillor as chairman for the steering group for the proposed Wanaka sports facility.

Riverstone Holdings Ltd managing director Bob Robertson is confident the proposed $200 million Fiordland monorail will stand up to an independent report on its financial viability.

The winding Kawarau Gorge section of State Highway 6 is to get $250,000 worth of curve warning signs and safety barriers.

The quick solution or ''silver bullet'' to building the proposed $50 million Queenstown convention centre, from the Queenstown Lakes District Council's perspective, would be to have SkyCity involved, council chief executive Adam Feeley said yesterday.

Coastguard Queenstown's days of operating out of a 2m-by-3m storage room at the back of a scout hall are numbered and the group is asking for help to raise the remaining funds needed for its planned new headquarters.