Rolling out the Rainbow
There'll be a lot more colour in Queenstown over the next 10 days.
The resort is once again rolling out the rainbow to celebrate this year's Winter Pride, which officially kicks into gear today.
Run for the second time by Sam Coulthard, about 5000 members of the Rainbow community are inbound to the Whakatipu — almost half of them coming from Australia.
Forty separate events, both on and off the mountains, are scheduled between tomorrow and next Sunday, including a new initiative, the Winter Pride Wedding Expo which is being held at the Queenstown Memorial Centre next Friday afternoon.
It'll showcase a selection of the resort's best wedding celebrants, caterers, florists and venues, all of whom support the LGBTQIA+ community.
Coulthard, whose background is in events, says weddings are part of his "normal job", and he's aware there's a "real problem" in Australia and other parts of New Zealand to find Rainbow-friendly celebrants.
Given Queenstown's already a top wedding location, he's hoping Winter Pride guests will be inspired to tie the knot here in future.
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Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Rolling out the Rainbow
Winter Pride volunteers David Dewhurst, Mary Horan, Mini Watson and Aaron Ravenwood in 2020. PHOTO: ODT FILES There'll be a lot more colour in Queenstown over the next 10 days. The resort is once again rolling out the rainbow to celebrate this year's Winter Pride, which officially kicks into gear today. Run for the second time by Sam Coulthard, about 5000 members of the Rainbow community are inbound to the Whakatipu — almost half of them coming from Australia. Forty separate events, both on and off the mountains, are scheduled between tomorrow and next Sunday, including a new initiative, the Winter Pride Wedding Expo which is being held at the Queenstown Memorial Centre next Friday afternoon. It'll showcase a selection of the resort's best wedding celebrants, caterers, florists and venues, all of whom support the LGBTQIA+ community. Coulthard, whose background is in events, says weddings are part of his "normal job", and he's aware there's a "real problem" in Australia and other parts of New Zealand to find Rainbow-friendly celebrants. Given Queenstown's already a top wedding location, he's hoping Winter Pride guests will be inspired to tie the knot here in future.
Otago Daily Times
06-08-2025
- Otago Daily Times
‘Particularly dry month' for much of South Island
Photo: ODT files Talk about a dry July. Earth Sciences New Zealand climate scientist Gregor Macara said high mean sea level pressure prevailed over much of the South Island during July, creating prolonged dry spells across much of Otago and Southland. Ranfurly had 26 days without rain (July 4-29); Clyde, Cromwell, Lauder, Middlemarch, Queenstown and Tapanui had 25 days (July 4-28); Oamaru had 18 days (July 12-29); and Alexandra and Dunedin had 17 days (July 12-28). And even when it did rain, very little fell, he said. "It was a particularly dry month for Southland, with five locations observing near-record low July rainfall totals. "This included Gore, where just 8mm of rain (14% of its July normal) was recorded. "This resulted in the town's second-driest July since records began in 1907. "Invercargill recorded 27mm of rain (37% of its July normal), making it the city's third-driest July since records began there in 1900." Lumsden (26mm) and Tiwai Point (22mm) also recorded their third-driest July, and Manapouri (21mm) had its fourth-lowest July rainfall. Temperatures were near average for most of the southern regions during July. However, new record mean air temperatures were recorded at Milford Sound (7.5°C), Puysegur Point (10.3°C) and South West Cape (10.1°C) and Nugget Point recorded its second-highest mean air temperature with 7.9°C during the month. From July 28-30, a warm northwesterly became established over the country, and dozens of locations observed record or near-record high daily maximum temperatures, he said. On July 28, the relatively high temperatures were centred over southern parts of New Zealand, with Milford Sound, Puysegur Point and South West Cape also setting record high daily maximum temperatures. "Milford Sound reached 19.3°C, exceeding its previous record of 17.6°C. "It was also notable that this temperature was recorded well after sunset — between 8pm and 9pm. "Daily maximum temperatures typically occur in the afternoon during daylight hours." Mr Macara said at the other end of the scale was Cromwell, where a persistent inversion layer and frequent low cloud contributed to daily maximum temperatures that were lower than average, and daily minimum temperatures that were higher than average. "Cromwell received 67 hours of sunshine for July (62% of normal), making it the lowest sunshine total for July since the town's records began in 1979." Mr Macara said the weather records were associated with more northeasterly winds than normal for the country. "Enso-neutral conditions remained present in the tropical Pacific, but trended towards La Nina-like conditions during the month. "Sea surface temperatures around New Zealand were above average, particularly off the west coast of the country, with marine heatwave conditions experienced in these areas." He said the mild start to winter for most of the country in June continued through July. "The nationwide average temperature in July was 9.2°C, making it New Zealand's fourth-warmest July since Earth Sciences New Zealand's seven-station temperature series began in 1909."
Otago Daily Times
02-08-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Dippie steps down as chairman of tourism giant
Outgoing RealNZ chair Martin Dippie. PHOTO: ODT FILES Queenstown-based tourism giant RealNZ is after a new chair. Prominent Otago businessman Martin Dippie's stepping down after three years at the helm — the company owns Queenstown's iconic steamship TSS Earnslaw, Walter Peak Farm, Cardrona and Treble Cone skifields and Milford and Doubtful Sound coaches and cruises, among other attractions. "Three years is a good period for me," he says, having last year also stood down as chair of the Mitre 10 retail cooperative and from the Otago University Council. "I really enjoyed being part of the team, but I'm a busy guy — [it's] amazing how three years went past in a jiffy." Dippie says he's looking forward to having more time for himself — "and we're doing a lot of endurance rallying and our kids are overseas". In 2022, Dippie along with main investor Milford Asset Management, Queenstown's Rod Drury, Jonty Edgar and Brendan Lindsay poured tens of millions of dollars into RealNZ to shore up its balance sheet and allow investment in technology, innovation and sustainability. However the Hutchins family, who founded the company 71 years ago, remained the majority shareholder. Dippie pays special credit to the Hutchins family — "there's not many businesses, particularly family businesses, that can get to that age". He says "the business is in great heart". "I can't speak highly enough about the business and the people — it's a business with a real warm heart." Milford Asset Management's John Johnston's acting chair while the company searches for a new chair, Dippie says. "I think there'll be a queue of very, very capable people." — Philip Chandler
