Shawn McAvinue

The stage is set, the fireworks are primed and the forecast is fine for the New Year's Eve Octagon Concert tonight.

Sled-dog racing is helping a cowering crossbred retrieve confidence and a headstrong husky to dodge the dog box.

Christmas Eve is always the busiest shopping day of the year in New Zealand, and this year has proven to be no different with a new record being set.

Families struggling to make ends meet in Dunedin this Christmas were given a hand up by the Salvation Army yesterday.

Christmas is two days away and the cash registers in the South are ringing as last-minute shoppers rush to buy presents.

The new Emerson's Brewery is beginning to take shape in Dunedin. 

An off-duty policewoman saved a girl from drowning in Dunedin yesterday.

If you're after relaxation and exhilaration, then stop at Hanmer Springs. Shawn McAvinue visits the alpine village for the weekend. 

Quinn Harrex (3), of Tauranga, lets his rocket take flight, with the help of elves Aleisha Lord (left) and Lauren Pugh in the Otago Museum atrium in Dunedin yesterday.

The physio pool in Dunedin has hit troubled waters as ongoing negotiations to obtain a long-term lease have delayed its $1million upgrade.

A Dunedin beauty queen is proud of her haka at the Miss World competition in China despite the performance receiving mixed reviews.

Mayfair Theatre Charitable Trust member Tom Ross prepares to shut the door at Mayfair Costume Hire in South Dunedin on Saturday.

Contractors are on track to finish the four-storey car parking building behind the former Dunedin chief post office by mid-February.

Fluffy appears twice in a shortlist of names for a takahe chick at Orokonui Ecosanctuary.

Graduating from a Salvation Army course last night are students (from left) Brooke Farrell (17) with son Sidnie (22 months), Reiarna McCormack (17) with Jessica Garden (4 months), Sarah Cross (19) with family friend Sasha Harris (2) and Courtney Ward (19) with son Jayden Kinns (10 months).

Incoming Fortune Theatre artistic director Jonathon Hendry was introduced to patrons at the 2016 season launch in Dunedin yesterday.

Melissa Van Der Haegen (11) leads the George Street Normal School kapa haka group in Dunedin's Meridian mall yesterday to promote the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal.

Noise complaints about buskers in the lower Octagon forced the Dunedin City Council to create a booking system to give performers exclusive slots to play to cruise ship passengers.

Dunedin Highland dancer Serena Sangster (19) is set to realise a lifelong dream by performing at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.