A search and rescue operation is under way in Queenstown after an Australian tourist failed to return from a day walk on Ben Lomond.

Richard Beven spent the money he stole on travel, cars, casinos, meals and alcohol, and a 40th birthday party for himself at exclusive golf club The Hills.

Queenstown has been named the top destination in Australasia and Air New Zealand named the best way of getting there in global travel awards.

The price of the sections in the new subdivison ranged from $215,000 to $290,000.

NZ Post has moved to reassure people their post is safe, following a number of incidents.

The major threat that the South Island's Alpine Fault poses to New Zealand has been front and centre of a Civil Defence conference in Queenstown this week.

Queenstown novice Dan Ahwa experiences the resort town's extreme, adrenaline-fuelled activities for the first time.

A Frenchman who stole forfeited cigarettes from a Customs drop-bin while working at an airport as a cleaner has escaped without a conviction.

Wellington house values rose 21 per cent in the last year, outstripping Auckland's 15 per cent, but Queenstown values are rising fastest.

Queenstown's bar community is in mourning after one of its own died in an eerie car crash.

Unusual items have been blocking Queenstown's sewer systems lately, with a soggy bathmat being the latest. Half a coconut was pulled

Asian investors who refused to settle on Queenstown apartments during the global financial crisis have won a landmark case.

Smoke blanketed Queenstown yesterday as the result of a burn-off on land on the other side of Lake Wakatipu owned by tourism giant Real Journeys.

Four Queenstown men are lucky to be alive after their kayaks overturned and they were swept out to sea off the Otago coast.

A judge has labelled an Arrowtown road rage incident as an "appalling piece of behaviour" while a couple was assaulted while their kids were in the car.

Queenstown's top cop is failing to front after officers were caught cherry-picking what they're telling the media.

It'll cost you up to $10,000 a night, but you will get million dollar views. A new hotel complex has been completed in Queenstown

A Sydney man proposed to his girlfriend moments after their helicopter crashed near Queenstown this week.

Property values in one former gold mining town have hit the roof.

Elderly American man died after a bus reversed into him in Queenstown.

An Arrowtown couple and their child have been left homeless after a fire in their rental property yesterday afternoon.

A former Queenstown Resort College student who died in France earlier this week had a carefree and adventurous approach to life, a former tutor says.

Queenstown is not in danger of having too many shops, a developer says, as as a $100m project is unveiled.

The Czech tourist who watched her partner fall to his death on the Routeburn Track has been touched by tragedy in the mountains before.

Pavlina Pizova waded through waist-deep snow with frozen feet to reach a hut in the NZ wilderness after her partner died - but her ordeal was far from over.

Queenstown Airport Corp posted a 7 per cent decline in full-year profit, while growth in passenger numbers drove up revenue.

Kea researcher Paul van Klink has raised the issue that giving Keas mountain cafe food is damaging the birds' health.

Immigration NZ is changing its practices following the case of the 18-year-old French au pair who was locked in a Queenstown police cell while waiting to be deported.

Joanna Hunkin lives the champagne lifestyle in Queenstown during a weekend loaded with luxury.

WATCH: Developer Alastair Porter is aiming to build $50 million, 9.8km Queenstown attraction.