Queenstown Lakes District Council boss Adam Feeley has "total integrity", Minister of Building and Housing Nick Smith says.

Elisabeth Easther scopes out the many attractions of the tiny community nestled at the end of Lake Wakatipu.

Two people escaped a fierce fire which gutted two Queenstown houses yesterday.

Former SFO boss Adam Feeley is facing an Auditor-General probe into how his family's land has been managed.

Four new snow groomers worth $2 million are busy at Cardrona Alpine Resort preparing the field for an earlier than usual June 13 opening.

Fergus Blakiston finds time between lattes for snowboarding on a trip to Queenstown.

Ski fields around the country are experiencing their first rounds of snowfall for the year and some could be in for a snowier season than last year.

Millbrook Resort plans to spend $50 million on a new golf and residential development.

An investigation into a Shotover Jet crash which left two people hospitalised has found the crash was down to driver error.

A prominent Queenstown businessman who crashed a Harley-Davidson motorcycle while on a joyride, injuring himself and a friend, is defending a charge of aggravated careless driving.

An experienced helicopter pilot who died after hitting a power line in Marlborough last week is being described as “a big-hearted man” with a passion for flying.

One person has been killed after a helicopter crashed into the sea in French Pass.

Women outweigh the men in Queenstown's first official marathon, says Rachel Grunwell.

Representatives of a helicopter company which employed two men who died in a crash on Thursday are due to be interviewed by specialist investigators today.

Aviation bosses have ordered the biggest grounding of aircraft in the country's history amid fears a helicopter fault may be behind the deaths of two men.

The Civil Aviation Authority has grounded a series of helicopters after a fatal crash this week.

Prime Minister John Key has paid a personal tribute to one of two men who died in a helicopter crash near Queenstown yesterday.

Queenstown man Verdun Waghorn was a UFO sceptic - until he photographed one. Now he wants to know if the truth is out there.

A man who crashed a drone into a Queenstown hotel and then left the scene could be prosecuted for breaking civil aviation rules.

The parents of Corey Docherty, who died after being found in a Queenstown alleyway, have arrived in NZ, and his grandfather says he was "living his dream".

Plans for a huge expansion of New Zealand's most luxurious golfing and lifestyle resort have been unveiled today.

A tourist, who suffered 'significant' injuries after a fall in a Queenstown alleyway, died in exactly the same spot and manner as a British tourist six years ago.

Friends of 22 year-old Corey Docherty, who died yesterday after he was found in a Queenstown alleyway, have already raised more than $15,000 for his family.

Hundreds of overseas tourists caught freedom camping illegally in the Queenstown Lakes area are leaving the country without paying the $200 fine.