Lynda van Kempen

Whipping up a pasta dish during the Salon Culinaire competition at Cromwell on Saturday is Ethan Wills (16), of Southland Boys' High School.

Several southern mums might have received more than breakfast in bed for Mother's Day this year.

Honing his chain-fitting skills this week as he prepares for the inaugural Central's Best Young Driver contest is Brandon Bell (18), of Omakau, assisted by community road safety adviser Jo Robinson. Mr Bell is one of 24 young drivers aged between 18 and 25 vying for the title.

Two Masters of Wine have thrown their weight behind opposition to subdividing an Earnscleugh property described as premium wine-producing land.

Bannockburn's earth-quake-prone century-old Coronation Hall has been condemned without a fair hearing, Historic Places Central Otago chairman David White believes.

There were ''lots of very smiley people'' at Dunstan Hospital yesterday as the district's much-anticipated CT scanner arrived. Central Otago Health Services Ltd runs the hospital and general manager Karyn Penno said the arrival of the $1 million scanner generated much excitement.

Josephine caused quite a stir rolling into the Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery yesterday, similar to the excitement it generated as, it is believed, the first motorised car in Central Otago more than a century ago.

Police concerns about unlicensed drivers were highlighted this week after two teenagers were caught driving in separate incidents within 16 hours.

Ten flights of stairs inside the Clyde dam have been part of the training regime for some of the 20-strong Central Otago contingent going to the Firefighters Sky Tower Challenge in Auckland on Saturday.

It is not really about the ducks. That was the word from Aaron Horrell as he explained why opening weekend of duck-shooting was sacrosanct for many hunters.

Patients from Central Otago and Queenstown-Lakes are already being identified to be the first users of a new CT scanner based at Dunstan Hospital.

An Alexandra husband and wife who both recently received Rotary's highest award say they were ''sandbagged'' - in the nicest possible way.

The entire Nevis Valley has been reclassified as an outstanding landscape of national importance, after an agreement prompted by an appeal to the Environment Court.

The rebranding of the Roxburgh Health Camp was a big change but the name had probably ''had its day'' after 93 years, a woman with a 60-year link to the Roxburgh facility said yesterday.

Mitchells Cottage at Fruitlands was transformed into a World War 2 French Resistance safe house and Cambrian hosted the Belgian war front as a drama documentary about New Zealand-born French-resistance heroine Nancy Wake was filmed in Central Otago this week.