The father of a Queenstown woman caught up in an investigation into an alleged kidnapping has called for her safe return.

Friends and family have paid tribute to the man killed in a tractor accident near Waikouaiti earlier this week as a "hell of a good guy".

A 68-year-old woman who died after slipping and falling about 40m from a walking track near Wanaka has been identified as Maureen Anne Schofield.

A researcher's tireless efforts to ensure every Kiwi can have a safe, warm and dry home has been rewarded with the country's largest prize for science.

Police have named the 24-year-old man killed when he was thrown from the cab of a tractor that rolled north of Dunedin.

The father of the 22-year-old Queenstown man at the centre of an alleged kidnapping has asked for privacy to allow his son to recover from the ordeal.

A 69-year-old Wanaka woman died yesterday after slipping and falling about 40m from a Department of Conservation walking track near Glendhu Bay, Wanaka.

A motorist caught driving at 177 km/h in Otago was one of more than 200 infringements police issued over a four-day blitz in the lead-up to Christmas.

Dunedin Botanic Garden staff are on high alert following a break-in by someone they believe was looking for hallucinogenic drug-producing cacti.

A fish tank at cash-strapped Dunedin Hospital cost $73,000 to install and more than $1000 a week to run in its first year.

Staff at a prison where a Dunedin man died in custody knew he was coming with drugs concealed in his body, a Coroners Court hearing has heard.

Otago's gateway is a hip town of vintage shops and nice beaches, says Elisabeth Easther.

Rob Ashton, soon to join Auckland's Carlton-Cornwall club after dominating Wellington bowls for years, moved to the brink of an unprecedented double at the New Zealand Open at Henderson yesterday.

The death of a 22-year-old student who fell from his skateboard and suffered a fatal head injury has been referred to the coroner.

The identity of the new owner of Queenstown's Hilton hotel has been revealed - and it's the group behind the controversial Crafar farm and Lochinver Station purchase.

A Green Island man was left with burnt hands and a garden shed minus one wall after an explosion during a drug-making operation last month.

Eveline Harvey and her family check into a well-appointed apartment in Central Otago.

These beautifully-appointed apartments in a quiet street offer the perfect holiday accommodation option for families.

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Police have named two Pakistani men who died in a truck crash on the Crown Range Road, Queenstown, yesterday.

Japanese tourist caught cutting corners over Central Otago mountain range says he was just trying to minimise his wife's car sickness.

Dunedin police have retrieved a man's body from Otago Harbour this morning, after it was discovered by a member of the public.

The three tourists from Hong Kong were killed when their rental van and a truck and trailer unit collided in Central Otago.

Three people killed in a horror smash in Central Otago this afternoon were all foreign nationals, police say.

Josie Dale contemplates the dark green silence of the Matukituki Valley.

A Maheno teenager is fighting for his life after being struck by a milk tanker near Maheno in Otago early yesterday.