Finding escaped prisoner Stephen Maddren is now like finding a needle in a haystack, police concede.

Horrified motorists rushed to the aid of four seriously injured people after two cars collided head-on last night on Dunedin's Southern Motorway.

Fergus Blakiston embarks on a 10-day odyssey of the South's skiing high points.

The mother of escaped prisoner Stephen Maddren has made an emotional plea for her son to give himself up.

After her car hit black ice, plunging down a bank and sank into a pond, Helen Kay grabbed her cat and 'kicked the hell out of a window' to escape.

Police have fears for escaped prisoner who fled an Otago Corrections Facility wearing only trackpants and a top as 'hypothermic conditions' set in.

"I'm not responsible for the rain, surely?" An 85-year-old has been hit with a big bill after a fuse blew on the power pole outside his house.

A Queenstown hotel treats its guests to epicurean delights sourced on its doorstep, finds Morgan Tait.

Five seconds are all that stood between David Greer and death, as the farmer struggled for air while trapped underwater in his truck in the Kyeburn River.

A former taxi driver has been charged with theft and making a false statement to police after claiming he was attacked and robbed of $700.

There are delays for motorists on Dunedin's Northern Motorway after a multi-vehicle crash resulting from frosty conditions this morning.

A Queenstown police constable has pleaded not guilty to an offensive language charge relating to an alleged incident involving a taxi driver.

A South Dunedin man is calling for more support for people trying to start their own businesses.

Leah McLennan looks at what's big and what's new on the Otago skifields.

Severe rain and wind warnings and a drop in temperatures have been issued for parts of the South Island and lower North Island this weekend.

Nothing re-awakens the Scot inside you like the aroma of a smoky whisky, finds Peter Feeney.

The partner of a tramper who died after being swept into a river in Fiordland expressed his grief yesterday at losing a loved one.

The body of a 22-year-old tramper who was swept away on the Milford Track has been found.

"My teeth were broken, blood came out of my mouth and Jessica was gone." A backpacker has described being unable to save a woman swept away on Milford Track.

Police did not coerce Joyce Conwell to confess to the shotgun murder of Alec Rodgers in Christchurch in 1999, the Independent Police Conduct Authority has ruled.

Aviation website privatefly.com has named its top 10 scenic airports at which to land. Our very own winter wonderland Queenstown gets a mention.

Police had to be called after an Ashmore presented its owner with a 5g bag of cannabis.

A ''feral'' student party in Stafford St in Dunedin yesterday was shut down by police, amid concerns for the safety of intoxicated people climbing on the outside of a three-storey flat.

No matter what the weather's doing, Pamela Wade finds entertainment in Southland and Central Otago.