As Otago dries out and the fire risk rises, those people who fight and investigate each blaze have a clear message for holiday-makers and land owners alike - if you cause a fire, you will pay for it.
A spate of thefts from vehicles in car parks at Dunedin's Moana Pool has led to a warning being issued to keep possessions - and gifts - under wraps.
Forget vandals and ghost trains - hot weather caused barrier arms to malfunction at level crossings near Mosgiel on Monday, a rail company spokeswoman said.
The 100 or so military and police personnel, and members of the public, who attended the International Close Combat Instructors Association convention in Dunedin this week may have learned skills which will enable them to turn the tables on future assailants - literally.
As temperatures in inland and coastal Otago hit the high 20s, and topped 30degC in places, hundreds of people took to the water around the region yesterday.
Seal on roads on the Taieri seems to be increasingly prone to melting in hot weather, an agricultural contractor says.
A "delightful guy", diligent, professional and "someone you would be happy to have as a doctor" was how senior Dunedin Hospital staff described the young English doctor killed in a jet boat crash on the Matukituki River on Friday.
Christmas Day for almost 4000 passengers on two large cruise ships which visited Port Otago at the weekend involved trees, carols, gifts and festive cheer - but some passengers still found the high seas an unusual place for celebrations.
A teenage construction worker is in Southland Hospital after being crushed by a concrete slab at Fonterra's Edendale dairy factory yesterday morning.
They sit unused for months and are then expected to traverse Otago's highways and byways with ease over the holiday season - but caravan maintenance must not be left to the last minute, experts say.
Otago transport operators are welcoming the introduction of tougher testing criteria for heavy vehicles' brakes.
An uncommon storm water system could provide common sense solutions to potential rainwater drainage problems on a large residential subdivision near Mosgiel, the developer behind the scheme says.
At a time of year when piped Christmas-themed "Muzak" abounds, live music played on unusual instruments struck a chord with pedestrians in the Octagon, in Dunedin, yesterday.
Three Mile Hill Rd was reopened yesterday morning, but with a speed restriction and warning signs, after being closed on Monday night after four crashes on it.
In this cynical age, romantics Geoff and Helen Hinds remain firm believers in love at first sight - or at least the possibility of a strong attraction.
Extensive soil testing for a proposed $42 million highway project in Caversham Valley, Dunedin, will begin this week.
A combination of tradition events and modern entertainment made the Otago Peninsula A and P Show, held at Portobello on Saturday, a day of family fun, organisers say.
A tourist from the United States travelling on a Taieri Gorge Railway excursion between Dunedin and Pukerangi was airlifted to hospital after falling from a carriage on Saturday morning.
It looked ominous - against a backdrop of dark clouds, hundreds of leather-clad motorcycle riders rumbled into central Dunedin on Saturday. But onlookers need not have worried; the bikes were on a charity toy run.
Several motorists crashed on Three Mile Hill Rd, Dunedin, last week, on a section of road identified as a "problem area" by roading engineers.
