Tracey Roxburgh

Competition has been intense at the Queenstown Events Centre in the past couple of days, as 16 teams from throughout the country vie for titles and national team selection in the New Zealand men's championships.

For the first time, Queenstown has two representatives in the 42 Below Cocktail World Cup.

Otago Rugby Football Union commercial and marketing manager Chris Green says it is not right to blame the New Zealand Rugby Union for pulling the plug on the Highlanders' Super 14 fixture in Queenstown next year.

Wakatipu High School clinched the South Island Secondary Schools ice hockey championships in Dunedin last week, winning every game the team played.

The New Zealand Rugby Union's decision not to hold a Highlanders Super 14 rugby match in Queenstown next Easter was "incredibly disappointing", Lakes Leisure board chairwoman Jane Taylor says.

It may just be the coolest job in the world.

When 45 of the world's best mixologists (yes, there is such a word) congregate in the same town, several things are guaranteed to happen: there will be madness, there will be mayhem and there will be an abundance of tasty cocktails made.

A Central Otago Polytechnic team, coached by Blanket Bay's Mark Sycamore, has won double gold at the Nestlé Toque d'Or, New Zealand's most prestigious student culinary and service competition, contested in Auckland on Monday.

If only walls could talk, Arrowtown's New Orleans Hotel would have some yarns to spin - 142 years' worth of them to be precise.

During the annual Queenstown Winter Festival, an event is held on Coronet Peak which seems like a bit of madness - Bikes on Snow.

Queenstown ski racer Janelle Miller made it three from three on Saturday, winning the national slalom title at Coronet Peak, while Wanaka's Leighton Winsloe secured the men's trophy by a narrow margin.

Arthurs Point residents will have to find a new watering hole from next month, when the doors of their beloved local, the Arthurs Point Tavern, are closed.

Queenstown ice hockey players have dominated national championships in recent weeks, with both the Southern Midget (U16) and Southern Women winning gold.

The inaugural Power Plate Black on Track Party held at The Hills Clubhouse on Friday night raised a mammoth $30,000 for the Volkswagen New Zealand ski team, organiser Fiona Stevens said yesterday.

About 350 people have arrived in the South Island's premier ski resort, ready to put the "Queens" in Queenstown.

Queenstown ice hockey players have dominated national championships in recent weeks, with both the Southern Midget (U16) and Southern Women winning gold.

During the annual Queenstown Winter Festival, an event is held on Coronet Peak which seems like a bit of madness - Bikes on Snow.