A Central Otago farmer - said to be in the process of brokering a multimillion-dollar export deal with the United Arab Emirates.

Lloyd Esler describes himself as a "cold hard sceptic", but even he is starting to believe otters may have made themselves at home in Southland.

Sarah Lang finds Dunedin is much more than a city of Scots and scarfies — and a special spot for a weekend getaway.

Elisabeth Easther explores the Big River Town.

The director of the University of Otago's marketing and communications division has been accused of bullying, and creating a 'toxic' environment.

A man is dead after his quad bike apparently crashed in steep terrain in central Otago over the weekend.

The hairy faces of three Otago rugby players were shaved at Dunedin Hospital yesterday to raise about $5000 in funds for the children's ward.

Adventure capital Queenstown has a quiet appeal, writes Cate Foster.

The UK's Daily Telegraph asked NZ Prime Minister John Key, about Queenstown, including his favourite sights, hotels, bars and restaurants.

A former Central Otago goldmine worker has admitted stealing gold-bearing sand, which police later found in a plastic lunchbox at his home.

An Alexandra teenager who got drunk on his 18th birthday and started firing his new airgun haphazardly, shooting his good friend in the knee, was sentenced yesterday to four months community detention.

Archaeologists yesterday battled against the tide to rescue 14th century moa bones from a "significant" historical settlement at Awamoa Creek, south of Oamaru.

An "insurmountable" lack of radiologists has forced the Southern District Health Board to relinquish the southern breast-screening service from the middle of next year, the board announced yesterday.

Police investigations into the death of an Otago remand prisoner have been stepped up following the involvement of New Zealand's police watchdog in the case.

Tramper's instinct proves more reliable than GPS in high country, writes Martin Johnston.

Ryan Karl Tapsell, 40, was sentenced in Dunedin District Court on Friday to four years in prison after being convicted of 15 charges under the Fisheries Act 1996.

Donna McIntyre escapes the city on a campervan holiday.

Elisabeth Easther pays our winter wonderland a visit.

Potentially life-saving technology, first trialled on Dunedin roads, is being installed throughout Otago in another world first.

An Otago teenager is lucky to have escaped serious injury after a fireball erupted when she was cooking in a Pine Hill house on Tuesday.

Two Dunedin youths have been arrested in relation to the theft and mutilation of a pet lamb in the city last month.