Otago Daily Times

Lights, stories, performances thrill carnival attendees

THOUSANDS gathered to celebrate light in the darkness of winter at a soldout Dunedin Midwinter Carnival. Held after dark at the First Church on Friday and Saturday, the annual event featured moving acts, musicians and aerial displays which...

Paradise under threat

A QUEENSTOWN landowner has spoken out against a fasttracked housing development and the threat it poses to the region’s rural character. Kaye Eden lived on the Branches Station — a highcountry farm in the Shotover River headwaters — after moving there...

Nocturnal creatures take the spotlight

NOCTURNAL creatures will come alive at this year’s Dunedin Midwinter Carnival. The annual event held at First Church and its surrounding grounds has had a bit of a revamp, and publicist Jess Covell said this year’s theme was a ‘‘rustle in the...

Fears afterhours care may be cut

WANAKA could be left in the ‘‘scary’’ position of having no afterhours treatment if massive cuts to funding go ahead, a GP says. Under the changes to primary care funding, Wānaka has been reclassified as a first tier rural area due to its increased...

Where have all the DVDs gone?

IS Dunedin running out of DVDs? You may have thought so if you went searching for one at the Regent Theatre Music Sale on Saturday. The section was all but cleared less than 20 minutes after the doors opened. Regent Music Sale coordinator Kath...

Roadworks costing businesses

A DUNEDIN cafe owner says the business is ‘‘haemorrhaging money’’ in the tens of thousands just two months after opening because of controversial roadworks. Alto Express coowner Bryony Smith said they had been throwing out hundreds of dollars worth...

Whale, hello there! Marine mammals visit Otago Harbour

THEY told Mila Smith de Zeeuw: ‘‘Go study in Dunedin. It’ll be great. You’ll have a whale of a time’’. But the 18yearold University of Otago firstyear student remained sceptical — until yesterday afternoon. When word of three humpback whales...

First families move into homes under philanthropic scheme

CHACE Moody reckons without Roger Fewtrell, his young family would not have been able to buy their first home. Mr Moody is among the first few Dunedin families to take up the developer’s offer and move into one of his affordable homes intended to...

Youths flaunt car stealing exploits

YOUTHS stealing up to six cars a night in Dunedin have boasted of their exploits in TikTok videos showing cars speeding at 200kmh and fleeing police. A Dunedin resident said the offenders, a group of youths all under the age of 16, were receiving...

For sale — but with a wee catch

THE house of Dunedin’s first secondary school rector has sat, long forgotten, below a central city street, and now someone has the chance to breathe new life into it. The 160yearold home has retained many of its original features, including ornate...

Competitions tap into dancing talent

DUNEDIN loves to tap in time to the music. That is the verdict of Dunedin Tap dancing Society president Denise Henderson after a busy King’s Birthday weekend of competitions at Coronation Hall in Mosgiel. ‘‘If you go around the country, pretty much...

Black Caps coming to Dunedin

NATHAN Smith has probably booked himself a starting spot for the test series against England later this month. The former Otago seamer took six for 40 on day two of the oneoff test against Ireland in Belfast. The rightarmer, who plays his...

Budget no frills and no thrills

FINANCE Minister Nicola Willis promised that Budget 2026 would not be one to get the pulse racing, and boy did she deliver. Her Budget speech gave an early clue that adrenalineraising announcements would be thin on the ground. She was a fifth of the...

Higher honours for netballers

THERE must be something in the water. Four Dunedin netballers have been named in the New Zealand secondary schools team heading to Australia for the first time since 2023 next month. St Hilda’s Collegiate netballers Charlee Farquhar and Ruby Hore and...

Debating team wins national final

THREE Dunedin secondary school students were so focused on winning the national debating tournament in Parliament, Christopher Luxon himself could not have shaken their focus. Columba College students Emily Roy, 17, and Beth Elder, 16, and Trinity...

‘They meant everything to us’

TODDLER SapphireHope Couch, who died in a Christchurch house fire which also killed her mother, is being remembered for her ‘‘infectious smile that could light up any room’’. The 3yearold — known as Sapphy — was killed in the fire on Whitehall St,...

General knowledge crossword

Smiles for ‘pretty impressive milestone’

PLAYING on a football ground as hard as concrete and ‘‘cold as’’, many parents had to tell their budding young football stars it was ‘‘character building’’. Even the organisers of yesterday’s 50th anniversary Green Island Junior Football Club...

Rapid fire destroys family home

HORRIFIED children watched from the car as their remote Southland farmhouse burst into flames seconds after their mother opened the front door. Fifteen minutes later the family had lost everything. Eden Anderton and Devon Roman and their three...

Councils square off over port

THE ‘‘cashstrapped’’ Dunedin City Council has been warned to keep its hands off Port Otago, as three city councillors eye up regional assets. In an opinion piece in today’s Otago Daily Times, Dunedin city councillors Lee Vandervis, Andrew Simms and...

Historic furniture firm shutting up shop

ONE of Dunedin’s oldest companies, Otago Furniture, is closings it doors. The business, which started making furniture in 1868, was left with few options and has decided to close, resulting in its 17 employees losing their jobs. The company had been...

City ‘best place’ for family of new citizens

THEY have had the best of times and then the Christchurch Mosque terrorist attacks brought the worst of times — but the Ashif family say they have no regrets about immigrating to New Zealand. Fijianborn and raised Mohammed Ashif said he moved to...

Businesses want compensation

THE Dunedin City Council has been slammed for ‘‘absolute incompetence’’ over roadworks, which have forced two businesses to close their doors. One business said the work in Kaikorai Valley Rd had cost them nearly all foot traffic, affected hundreds of...

Weather

A company that’s quietly raising the residential bar in Dunedin

In a city steeped in architectural history, property development carries a big responsibility. For Blue Sky Property director Lyndon Fairbairn, that responsibility has shaped the business, by prioritising design quality, liveability, and long-term...

All yours, shark: sighting clears water at St Clair

ABOUT 100 people reportedly exited the water at Dunedin’s St Clair Beach yesterday after the alarm was sounded over a possible shark sighting. Surf Lifesaving New Zealand is reminding people to be vigilant, but to not be dissuaded from heading into...

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Jumble crossword

Bugler Maia, 8, following family tradition

AN 8yearold will continue in the footsteps of her grandfather and greatgreatgrandfather when she plays the Last Post and reveille in Otautau tomorrow for Anzac Day. Maia Carran will play the bugle calls on an instrument belonging to her...

Concern for students over high rents

AS struggling students ‘‘below the poverty line’’ resort to couchsurfing, properties in the heart of North Dunedin’s campus area are selling for north of a $1 million. Castle St’s ‘‘Thirsty’’ student flat was listed earlier this month for $1,050,000....

Cryptic crossword

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Jumbo Crossword

World champs training regime on a roll

WHO needs a strict world championship training regime when you can just stack shelves and roll ice creams in a corner dairy? Dunedinbased table tennis player Wang Qi is in the final weeks of preparation for the International Table Tennis Federation...

Homecoming for artists’ work

IT began with a river. Travelling along the Waitaki River three years ago, from the river mouth to the base of Aoraki/Mt Cook, a group of Ngāi Tahu artists began a project that has taken them internationally for the first time and home again. More...

Weather

Veterans rapt to be back in action

NIGEL Welsh and Stuart Sinclair will be riding with a smile on their dial at the Otago Rally — it is their first time back together on the road in more than 40 years. The pair are taking this seriously enough — they have ordered a custombuilt Ford...

Explosive email chain leaked

AN explosive email chain has revealed infighting at the Dunedin City Council over a planned homelessness outreach service. The decisionmaking process was slammed as ‘‘woeful’’ by one councillor — Russell Lund. The council had reached a new low point,...

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Bayne goes deep into ‘pain cave’ in 24hr ultramarathon

JOGGING for a very long time is how John Bayne describes what he just did. He was also ‘‘pretty shattered, pretty sore’’ afterwards. The Dunedin man ran 245.5km in 24 hours at the weekend during an ultramarathon festival in Christchurch. ‘‘It would...

‘Truth and justice’ for nurse

A NURSE who endured a fiveyear ordeal to clear her name has won an appeal over being unjustifiably dismissed, following an incident in an Oamaru care facility which left her with posttraumatic stress disorder. And Pact Group was ordered by the...

Fears poison deliberately left

DUNEDIN dog owners are being urged to keep an eye out for ‘‘greenyblue’’ matchboxsized rat bait cubes in John Wilson Ocean Dr after the poisoning of several dogs at the weekend. The incidents have ‘‘absolutely horrified’’ the dog owners, who believe...

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Wild whackers tee off neighbour — leading to change of course

SPRAYING one off the tee is having an impact on golf clubs around the country and one Dunedin course is trying to do something about it. Island Park Golf Club president Steve Cushnie said the club was joining an increasing number of golf clubs across...

Pen pals meet after 40 years

ACROSS Dunedin’s busy railway station foyer, Lynette Kennedy spotted her pen pal of more than 40 years. Walking stick in hand, it was probably the fastest the Invercargill 77yearold had moved in recent years, dodging cruise ship tourists as she...

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Circus show inspired by ADHD diagnosis

IF it was not for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Nicole Maisey would not be an awardwinning aerial acrobat, swinging from the roof by her hair. The Wellington 26yearold gave the first performance of three at the Dunedin Fringe...

Diesel pumps running dry

DIESEL pumps are running dry across Otago and contractors are ramping up their prices to cover skyrocketing fuel costs. Drivers in Alexandra and Dunedin were confronted with empty diesel pumps earlier this week as the price hit $3 a litre at some...

WEATHER WATCH

WordBuilder

Barrel winner takes her whole family with her

A TITLE 26 years in the making. Fairlie cowgirl Kate Hughes had wrapped up the New Zealand barrel racing title before the National Rodeo Finals in Waikouaiti on Saturday. It was her first national title after finishing runnerup three times,...

WEATHER TODAY

Football quitting council grounds over higher charges

CLUBS may collapse and grounds turn into bogs as a football leader cries foul over increased ground charges. The round ball will not be sighted at the Oval this season, and other grounds on which football has been played for years will no longer host...