In 2008, Vanessa van Uden was a Queenstown Lakes district councillor with an eye on the mayoralty.
In 2010, that dream was realised as she took over the mayoral chains from Clive Geddes, who did not seek re-election.
The two years leading up to the change in leadership had been a testing time for many in the community but, as she says, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going".
"Things have got a lot harder, but I think we've seen a lot more spirit.
"The thing for me [is] people quite often will talk about the community spirit elsewhere and say it isn't here.
"It's huge here, it's just not in your face. It comes out when things get tough."
The global financial crisis has left its mark but Ms van Uden is confident the district is out of the woods and in three years' time, the community will have continued to evolve, with the benefit of the lessons learnt.
"For me, recession follows excess. Perhaps people build their castles on sand. Let's hope from here we've learnt and build on more solid foundations in the future.
"The whole world is in a recession. The glitz and the glamour is there, but you have got to remember we've got people living underneath that.
"The hardest thing going forward is the recession will go on.
"I know lots of people have suffered, but for me it's figuring out a way to protect the things we really value, what attracts people here.
"But more than that, it's about the community ... the diversification and the passion for the place and there's a balance between growing that and protecting that."
Ms van Uden cited Wanaka as an example of a place which had gone from a village to a town where "people now say they don't know their neighbours".
"It's about understanding with growth comes that change, but making sure it's something that's still good.
"I would hate if we get to a point where somebody could be dead in their house for eight years before somebody found them.
"It's a great place to live. There's the mountains and the outdoors, but that's not the only reason people come here."
While the attractions of Queenstown needed to be protected, there was a balance to be struck between growth and protection, and that would prove the challenge in years to come.
"We could be a really small town community just trying to get by, yet for all of the hard stuff, there's a lot of great stuff.
"There are a lot of opportunities and fantastic people here who are trying to make a difference and are looking for the next opportunity."
One of those people is Ms van Uden, who confirmed to the Queenstown Times she would seek re-election in 2013.
"I'm having a great time and enjoying it immensely.
"It's a huge opportunity to try to make things happen and three years isn't enough time to do all the things we'd like to get done."
So we asked her what she would like to see done, what challenges we face, what areas we can grow in and where she sees us in 2014 and beyond.
Diversification in tourism
"Tourists - getting them back, building that confidence in travel will be a focus."
However, one of the most important things for this community is to create its own "buffer".
"We need to be making the most of our assets and ... look at other things that will work well with what we have here.
"We have lots of people who are really keen to invest in this community - you only have to look at the buzz when you're sitting in the room with things like Shaping our Future.
"I'm not just talking about money, it's time, energy, ideas.
"We're sitting at the point where we can make some really cool changes. We have got the opportunity to do it."
One example was the film industry, which had the potential to grow into "something that has a more permanent [base] here".
Another was IT - "a really exciting opportunity".
"To me, we need to be doing something in IT in manufacturing or diversifying. We will never see factories and chimneys here belching out smoke, but we can do some sort of production that is environmentally friendly.
"We've got lots of people living here and running businesses elsewhere from here - let's make that happen."
As an example, broadband, which was "key".
"In three years, Queenstown will have broadband."
Infrastructure development
The development industry will rise again, but those pinning their hopes on a two-lane bridge over the Kawarau River may well be disappointed.
"I don't believe there will be a two-lane bridge at Kawarau Falls [by 2014].
"They [NZTA] have done the design ... but things like Auckland and things like Christchurch earthquakes happen.
"It's always going to be a hard thing to get there with. It's in the plan for 2015 or 2016."
Funding was the hard part of the equation, but there might be opportunities for a public-private partnership - something which may well become more prevalent in the future.
Other predictions were that there would be "something out of the hole" in three years, referring to the former Five Mile development site; and a roundabout would be in place on State Highway 6 near Glenda Dr, another NZTA initiative.
The Eastern Access Rd, linking State Highway 6 near Glenda Dr to Remarkables Park would be open for business, and Remarkables Park will have grown exponentially.
One of the hot topics of conversation in recent years had been Arrowtown - whether it should grow or whether the status quo was sufficient.
When it came to the historic village, no matter what, "We will still see the beautiful character in Arrowtown".
"That is what we have to protect."
Potential development would link to diversification - the "if you build it, they will come" philosophy.
"I think as long as there is some growth, as long as there are people wanting to come and live here, there will be people wanting to meet that demand."
Transport
Public transport will only work if residents, in particular, change their "mindset".
The fledgling partnership between the Otago Regional Council and Connectabus, established in 2010, needed to be fine-tuned, but Ms van Uden said she would "love to see the buses working really well" within three years.
The company had come under fire for being "too slow and too expensive", but Connectabus was a "commercial enterprise", Ms van Uden said.
"They are very passionate and committed to delivering services to this community, but they still need to make a living. To me, a lot of it is about us changing - I have to change my attitude. It's convenience a lot of the time, having a car there when you need it. But this will only work if we all get behind it."
One of the key factors was providing an "economically viable way" of making the service work for people.
"If we're looking in three years ... we need to have committed to the dream of making this work, whatever that commitment is.
"I don't think it should be money, in terms of subsidising fares, because all that's really doing is hiding the problem."
Health
It has been one of the most controversial topics of discussion in the past two years - the Southern District Health Board's review of health services at Lakes District Hospital.
Within the Wakatipu this has provoked understandably emotional responses.
But, by year's end, Ms van Uden predicts "we'll know what's going on".
"I'm not really willing to predict where it will end up, where the location will be, but I don't expect that we'll get any ... [fewer] services.
"I think we have to potentially be realistic about the size of our community.
"There are some things we expect, as a Central Otago community, to have better levels of service, but I don't think we can expect all of them at Queenstown's back door."
Education
Within three years Wakatipu High School will be at Frankton, Ms van Uden predicts.
Plans for the new school site, on the Frankton Flats, have long been in the pipeline.
The Ministry of Education signalled its desire for the campus to be moved to Frankton in 2009.
An extra primary school at a Frankton site could also be in place by 2014.
Education was another area into which the community could diversify.
The Southern Institute of Technology Queenstown campus opened in 2009 and, most recently, Queenstown Resort College and the University of Otago teamed up to establish the University of Otago Master of Entrepreneurship programme, which was launched in the resort on July 19.
But the potential was huge, Ms van Uden said.
"The University of Otago, I see that growing enormously. It's another one in our list of movies and IT, and I think we have got huge opportunities in the area of education as well.
"We need to encourage education providers to set up here ... provide an education destination as well as a tourism destination."
Queenstown Airport
Arguably the most strategically important asset for Queenstown, the airport has grown exponentially in the past few years and it will continue to grow as demand increases.
Expansion of the terminal was under way, something that was necessary "looking at what happens in the peak times".
While consent was denied for the airport to extend its operating hours from 10pm to midnight - a decision the airport company opted not to appeal - Ms van Uden can see extended flying hours in the future.
"In 50 years I can see [that]. We are talking 50 years. Fifty years ago if you looked at that airport, it was a shed."
