Waitaki’s Finest Coast to Coast team of Waitaki Boys’ High School staff members (from left) Sam Henehan, Twyla Kingan and Jordan Horrell competed for the first time. PHOTO: SUPPLIED‘‘Waitaki’s Finest’’ took on the challenge of competing in the Coast to Coast and earned a top 10 finish. Waitaki Boys’ High School staff members Sam Henehan, Jordan Horrell and Twyla Kingan teamed up to compete as a three-person team in the two-day event. Head of social sciences Henehan completed the kayak, assistant rector Horrell completed the run and sport co-ordinater Kingan completed the bike. ‘‘The Coast to Coast is such a great event, the whole community is so welcoming and everybody is there for their own reasons and having a go.’’Horrell agreed.

Oamaru’s own affable railway man, Mr Andrew was the recipient of the Seven Sharp ASB ‘‘Good as Gold’’ award that screened on TVNZ this week. Mr Andrew said he was speechless when he saw the crew there and realised what was happening. Oamaru Steam & Railway president Ken McCallum said the recognition was ‘‘absolutely well-deserved and probably long overdue’’. Waitaki mayor Mel Tavendale said Mr Andrew was an ‘‘absolute stalwart’’ of Oamaru’s railway heritage. ‘‘It’s really, really great, he so deserves it.’’Mr Andrew has been the OS& R general manager since 1999.

The Central Lakes Trust has approved $1.4 million in grants in its most recent round of funding. The grants are to support a ‘‘diverse range of community initiatives across the region’’ and include an innovative musical playground in Wānaka, a new sports facility in Alexandra and expanded vocational training opportunities for secondary students. Wānaka Musicians Incorporated (WMI), the organisers of Wānaka’s ‘‘Stars in Your Eyes’’ concert received $20,000 to support the construction of a musical playground in Three Parks. ‘‘The programme is a partnership between the schools, Breen Construction, and the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation,’’ the statement said. Molyneux Turf Incorporated received about $500,000 towards developing new multisport turf in Alexandra on the grounds of Dunstan High School.

Wanaka duo Jeremy Presbury (left) and Michaela Rogan took home the men’s and women’s titles at the Crop Duster gravel bike race in Alexandra last weekend. The annual gravel bike racing series began with its first event — the Crop Duster — in Alexandra last weekend. The Crop Duster had some ‘‘really, really good fields’’ Cycling Otago race convener and gravel director Grant Campbell said. ‘‘[There was] a return of a lot of strong riders from last year but also probably 30% or 40% of the field were new to gravel races which was great. He was not the only Wānaka winner as Michaela Rogan took out the women’s race as well, finishing in 1hr 51min 02sec.

Arrowtown’s Nicky Sygrove’s been appointed NZ Nature Fund CEO. The Kinross Winery chief executive’s just been appointed New Zealand Nature Fund (NZNF) CEO, having spent the past two years as a trustee. NZNF was established 25 years ago, initially to manage restricted philanthropic gifts to support Department of Conservation projects. Sygrove says Aotearoa’s at an ‘‘extraordinary moment’’ for conservation. During her tenure, Kinross earned Qualmark Gold Status in 2023, was a Tourism New Zealand NZ Wine Tourism Award winner in 2024, and won ‘employer of the year’ at last year’s Queenstown Business Awards.

The wild west-inspired home suits the Wānaka environment and is tucked away down a private cul de sac. The straw bale home has many recycled materials, featuring tractor seats, saloon doors, bridge beams, telephone poles and old timber. The breakfast bar, which is milled from leftover timber used in the walls and ceilings, features old tractor seats. ‘‘We went to an auction in Luggate and bought a whole lot of bridge beams. ‘‘A lot of the materials you can’t get now.’’They also collected old doors originally from India at a second-hand sale in Dunedin.

Cancer Society interim CEO Meredith Woods Ford, left, with longtime local and Cancer Society volunteer Eva Boyer and the society’s Central Otago community manager Tara Strahan outside the new Queenstown-Tāhuna CentreIt's described as a game-changer for Queenstown, and the wider Central Lakes. Last Thursday, longtime local Eva Boyer cut the ribbon to officially open the Cancer Society’s new Queenstown-Tāhuna Centre, at Remarkables Park, marking a major step forward in making cancer support more visible and accessible for the community. It’s also a short stroll from a bus stop, which Cancer Society’s head of cancer services Craig Watson says is super-important. ‘‘This will be more than just the Cancer Society’s hub; this will be a cancer hub for the community, too.’’And, he notes, it’ll play an important role in supporting migrants on their cancer journeys who may need help navigating a health system that’s foreign to them. The drop-in centre’s open Monday to Friday during business hours, or people can book in via the society’s online portal.

Modelling four of Queenstown Flying Dress’ gowns are, from left, Charlotte Dickson, Morgan Talbot, Emma Duigan and Lana Ennis. PICTURE: JAMES ALLAN PHOTOGRAPHYBalfour farm-raised Queenstowner Laura King had been looking for an ‘‘out the gate’’ business idea. After trialling ‘flying dresses’ in Dubai and Egypt early last year, she’s started photoshoot business Queenstown Flying Dress in which women are photographed in scenic locations wearing colourful, flowing, ‘flying’ gowns between 3m and 5m long. Though the first flying dress business set up in Santorini, Greece, in 2015, King’s is the first in New Zealand. While she believes a lot of women find the experience quite empowering, she says her business also fits into the realm of pure entertainment — ‘‘everyone loves entertainment’’.

We actually played a lot of the second half in the right end of the park but it was extremely hard to hold the ball. The Drua were very disciplined on defence and didn’t allow us too many entries into the corner,” Hurricanes captain Jordie Barrett told Sky Sport. Still, it was the Hurricanes who were having the better opportunities as they tried to get through the Fijian defences. Asked if the weather impacted the Hurricanes’ attacking game, Barrett refused to use conditions as an excuse and instead credited the Drua’s performance. “They took a couple of their opportunities and we had multiple entries in the second half and couldn’t capitalise.

Beating the Chinese dragon drum, learning the art of calligraphy and tai chi and feasting on a smorgasbord of cultural food was all on offer at the annual Oamaru Chinese Association pot-luck dinner for Chinese New Year this year. Association president Janice Burnett said she was ‘‘happy and overwhelmed’’ by the turnout of about 100 of the Chinese community, family and friends, who packed the Fenwick School Hall. Kuna Chow and her daughter Tova Chiu, 4, enjoy the Chinese tea and juice as part of the association’s annual pot-luck dinner. Tova said her favourite food was the donuts, sandwiches, fruit and plums. While the association provided Chinese-style roast pork, duck and chicken on the night, and Chinese tea and juices, the banquet included pizza, donuts and Malaysian style noodles.

He was also sentenced for smashing a glass whisky bottle over the head of a family member, leaving a bloody gash. While undergoing further testing at the North Shore Policing Centre, Mackey was given an officer’s phone to contact his lawyer. After the call, an unattended Mackey scrolled through the phone, coming across his police profile on the National Intelligence Application (NIA). Mackey was perusing his profile when the officer returned to the room and took back his phone. The officer said he believed he had locked the app before handing the phone to Mackey.

A video posted on YouTube showed about a dozen people approaching the police car. Photo: YouTubeTaranaki Police have laid charges against two people after an encounter with a "hostile" group of people at a car meet in Oaonui. Police attended a callout to a group of "antisocial road users" gathering at Kina Rd about 1am last Saturday. However, they soon retreated, later saying, "Due to the hostile nature of the group, it was determined that the safest course of action was to monitor the meet from nearby and gather information." A video posted on YouTube showed about a dozen people approaching a police car, which then reversed as people ran after it.

The Black Knights named an unchanged side to the one that beat the Wellington Phoenix 5-0 a week ago, with import striker Sam Cosgrove making his return from suspension via the bench. The opening exchanges followed a similar pattern to last week, with City setting the tone and Auckland having to absorb all the pressure. Returning from the break, City were again aggressive and had some chances to equalise, but Auckland were up to the challenge. Auckland FC 3 (Logan Rogerson 43′, Jesse Randall 59′, Guillermo May 66′). Melbourne City 0HT: 1-0Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo: GettyAustralian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday's arrest of a Western Australian man over an alleged terror plot targeting mosques, police and a parliament building was "deeply shocking". The 20-year-old from the town of Bindoon about 63km north of state capital Perth was later charged by police with planning a terrorist act. Police said the man had written a manifesto with plans for a mass casualty event and that he wanted to attack mosques, Western Australia's police headquarters and Parliament House. Albanese said on X late on Friday: "The arrest of a WA man over an alleged racially-motivated terrorist plot is deeply shocking."

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