Otago Daily Times News Feed

New Zealand have won the toss and elected to bowl first against Sri Lanka in the first test starting in Wellington today.

Spectacular thunderstorms across Auckland last night lit up skies, cut power, disrupted flights and dumped "crazy huge" hourly rainfall amounts in some parts of the city.

1nadine_0_0.jpg Scott and Nadine Tomlinson and their sons Angus (R) and Sam. Photo: Supplied The first word 18-month-old Sam Tomlinson learned to say was "Mum" - two days after she died.

Invercargill Airport. Photo: Southland Express The new Invercargill to Auckland air service should attract a lot of travellers now  using Queenstown or Dunedin airports when flying north, Invercargill Airport general manager Nigel Finnerty says.

Offers of assistance from strangers have buoyed the spirits of Cody, Ella (3), Rosie and Beau (2) Cowley on their flood-affected Taieri farm. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery The grass is not always greener on the Cowley family’s dairy farm on the Taieri Plain.

Dunedin could lose another 250 car parks in the city centre to the new Dunedin Hospital.

Alexandra’s ‘‘clock on the hill’’ had an upgrade to coloured LED lights earlier this year. Photos: Supplied The Alexandra Clock on the Hill is celebrating its big 5-0 today. Central reporter Adam Burns takes a look back at the town’s landmark — and how those 50 years have ticked by. 

A Dunedin boy dumped at a Catholic orphanage by his father endured five days of violence at the hands of the Sisters of Mercy. Half a century later, he is still searching for answers. Chris Morris reports.

Photos: Stephen Jaquiery/Peter McIntosh/Supplied Christmas is just around the corner, and David Loughrey is here with his annual A-Z guide to the year’s end. This year’s version considers all that Dunedin has to be thankful for, alongside some only vaguely related thoughts.

Erik Bradshaw The "magnificent" landscapes along a proposed ski touring route between Coronet Peak and Treble Cone skifields should attract many outdoor enthusiasts, Coronet Peak Station manager Russell Hamilton says.

The NZ Transport Agency has issued an update on the Edendale realignment project.

Sand sausages at Oamaru Harbour. Photo: Hamish MacLean Oamaru's brief affair with sand sausages is coming to an end.

Gold-mining artefacts at Goldfields Mining Centre. Photos: Mountain Scene A gold-mining centre on the Queenstown tourist trail with "phenomenal" potential is on the market.

Photo: Gregor Richardson The private charter tug Christine Mary left Dunedin early yesterday bound for Auckland, having delivered an 85 tonne barge to Port Otago earlier in the week.

The median house price in Dunedin has risen 14.3% since last November. Photo: Gerard O'Brien Median house prices across the country continue to rise, six regions recording new highs, including Southland.

Members of the South Pacific sports club from its various codes (from left) Ana Moses, Manassa Kutia, Maine Mareko-Johnson, David Reedy, Gianna Leoni, Natalie Visger, Bailey Wharerimu and Shaun Tahau, at the North Ground after winning New Zealand Rugby League’s grass-roots club of the year this week. Photo: Gregor Richardson In many ways the South Pacific sports club is a trailblazer in the south — and now it has received national recognition.

Richie McCaw Former All Black and new father Richie McCaw has signed up for February’s Coast to Coast n which he and long-term friend and Adventure Racing team-mate Rob Nichol will take on the tandem team event.

Otago has been hit with a tough draw but is intending to try to slide past the opposition at the national sevens tournament in Tauranga today.

Southland Racing Club president Sean Bellew shows off some of the electronic wristbands to be used at today’s Christmas at the Races in Invercargill. Photo: Ben Waterworth Christmas is coming early to Invercargill today  and the annual Christmas at the Races meeting is expected to draw thousands of people.

Heritage stonemasons (from left) Paul Myall and Murray Reeves, both of Clyde, and Keith Hinds, of St Bathans, take a break from stonework they are doing on the 1870 ‘‘second school’’ building near the Cromwell Heritage Precinct. The building is one of three to be partially restored in a project to beautify areas along Lake Dunstan. Photo: Pam Jones About 40 tonnes of schist has restored historic remains that will hopefully bring "new purpose" to an area near the Cromwell Heritage Precinct, those behind the project say.