Mountain Scene

After a 25-year absence, a Queenstowner’s wanting to reestablish the Wakatipu Rodeo Club, but says she’s between ‘‘a rock and a hard place’’. Formerly hosting the ‘‘most enjoyable rodeos in the country’’, according to promoter Vanessa Sharp, the club went into recess in 1999 when the land its former home was on, at Arrowtown’s Butel Park, was sold and turned into a residential subdivision.

Queenstown’s Kinross has opened its cellar door to a new partner. The Gibbston winery already stocks wine from four other wineries that don’t have their own cellar door — Coal Pit, Hawkshead, Valli and Wild Irishman — as well as its own Kinross label.

New Zealand-Korean artist Seung Yul Oh’s visiting Queenstown this Saturday to talk about his new exhibition at Earl St’s Starkwhite gallery. Well known for public artworks across NZ, as well as playful sculptures which include enormous inflatables and quizzical mice, his latest exhibition, ‘Behind Forward’, takes a new direction, examining concepts of depth, perspective and translucency in paint.

Veteran Queenstown hospo professional Paul Wilson’s crossing the ditch. Wilson, who co-founded Chomp Food Safety in 2016, is relocating to Queensland, to expand the company’s footprint and support the growing demand for innovative food safety in Australia. Chomp’s a digital tool aimed at helping businesses with their ever-increasing food safety requirements by speeding up and simplifying the process.

Three Queenstown venues, and three hospo pros, have been named as finalists in the Hospitality New Zealand (HNZ) Awards 2024. In the business awards, Fernhill’s Kamana Lakehouse and Queenstown’s Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa are both in the running for ‘best hotel’ — they’re up against Fable Auckland, Novotel New Plymouth Taranaki and The Hotel Britomart, in Auckland. Future Hospitality Group’s Little Blackwood, at Steamer Wharf, is a finalist in the ‘best bar’ category.

Arrowtowner Scotty Stevens winning Queenstown’s Lone Star Super Rugby tipping comp and the Crusaders not winning the title seem to go hand in hand. He first won the tipping comp in 2016, the last time till this year the Crusaders didn’t win — and the first year his favoured Hurricanes did. This year, the Canes topped the round robin comp, which of course suited Stevens, however they lost in the semis to the Chiefs — and this is where Stevens’ cunning came to the fore.

A Queenstown councillor’s questioning why the resort’s ‘wider CBD’ — including residents — should pick up the majority of the tab for the now infamous ‘road to nowhere’. Included in Queenstown council’s draft long-term plan, out for consultation till July 28, are options ‘1A’ and ‘1B’ to recoup the costs of the CBD upgrade and arterial road projects.

A man assaulted one ambulance officer and made sexually offensive comments to another as they tried to treat him in downtown Queenstown. The two Hato Hone St John volunteers were responding to a callout after a member of the public became concerned at seeing Christchurch man Taiene Lekali Moenoa vomiting and stumbling in the resort’s CBD about 6pm on September 30.

Major upgrades to Te Kura Tuatahi o Tāhuna — Queenstown Primary School (QPS) have been completed, and a major project for the school’s future has been announced.

Work’s due to start this spring on a $20million-plus runway safety project at Queenstown Airport. Ours will become the first airport in Australasia to have engineering materials arresting system (Emas) beds installed at both ends of the main runway. Arising from the airport’s masterplan, the beds are designed to safely bring an aircraft to a controlled stop with minimal damage in the event of a runway overshoot.