Rosie Manins

Otago will benefit from increasing visitor numbers nationwide, Tourism New Zealand says.

Leah Stephens keeps the boys in line, on and off the rugby field.

A Dunedin police officer talks to a youth after he and another boy allegedly rode a stolen scooter in South Dunedin yesterday. Senior Sergeant Kelvin Lloyd said the owner of the scooter, who had previously reported it as stolen, saw two youths riding it in Dunedin shortly after 1.30pm yesterday.

Outram train driver Ken Sloper is taking the retirement line.

Donations to the Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust are needed now more than ever.

Recently-appointed St John chief executive Peter Bradley is touring the organisation's Otago and Southland facilities for the first time.

Dunedin police are appealing for information about a ''random, senseless act of violence'' in which a 22-year-old man was bottled in the face.

Freedom campers and other independent travellers are being enticed to Dunedin.

Almost four decades of hard slog is paying off for Lawrence butcher Jan Harper.

The rebuilding of Christchurch is ''bigger than Ben-Hur'' and will line the pockets of Dunedin contractors for up to eight years, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The opening of Dunedin's second and third purpose-built CrossFit gymnasiums is testament to the exercise trend's popularity. Rosie Manins discovers why Dunedin residents are signing up to CrossFit classes in their hundreds, following in the footsteps of thousands worldwide.

Dunedin barrister Trevor Shiels has joined a rare club. He has become the fourth Queen's Counsel in Otago, alongside Colin Withnall, Judith Ablett-Kerr and Royden Somerville.

A dignified ceremony within an impressive venue saw Dunedin's Sir Julian Smith formally knighted in Wellington yesterday.

Snoopy is a survivor. The 4-year-old spaniel-cross spent six hours stranded on a Tomahawk cliff ledge in the cold and rain yesterday.

University of Otago student Mitchell Harkness plans to put his recently-acquired skills to good use.