Hello, and welcome to the 47th edition of the Queenstown.com Weekly. This week's edition comes to you from Te Anau Downs, which is in the Fiordland National Park, on the road to Milford Sound. The purpose of the trip is to further extend the coverage of local wireless internet provider, HQWiFi. It's not as hot here as it shows in Queenstown based on the readings from our Queenstown weather station. The temperature at 2.20pm today sat at an impressive 32.4 degrees, the 4th time over 30 in the last week!
In one of David Crow's weather forecasts last week, he mentioned that so far, January has been 4 degrees hotter on average. The worst may be yet to come as the second half of January is normally a lot hotter than the first half. So for all those who are either in town or on your way, don't forget to cover up. The skies in the Central Otago region are a lot clearer than other parts of New Zealand, and when coupled with the lower ozone levels, the risk on sunburn is extreme. The closest UV readings to Queenstown are taken in Lauder in Central Otago, and readings between the 2 places, although they are only roughly 30 kms away (as the crow flies), can vary widely. That being said, the UV link supplied can only be used as a guide, and for more information, please visit the Sunsmart Ultraviolet Index.
On the competitions front, we still have 4 tickets to the Showcase Concert that is being held by the Queenstown Violin Summer School. All you have to do is post a comment, and if it is judged to be the best, you'll win all 4 tickets. Also, congratulations to Ramsey for winning the final 4 cocktail vouchers for use at Barup. Ramsey, if you are reading this, all you need to do is pop into the Queenstown.com office on 46 Robins Rd to claim the vouchers. Hopefully after we do make some upgrades to the website, we will have the Tardis bartab competition running again, so watch this space.
Making news in the region last week and a half were the following press releases with a paragraph from each:
- This play really packs a punch! - No, it's not a self defence course or some new anger management strategy, but rehearsals for Queenstown Theatre Company's next play 'Tapanui Tanzi'.
- Two more plan changes for comment - Now is the time to get involved in the district planning process with two more plan changes notified for public submission yesterday (Wednesday).
- LA NINA continues - Overgrown section fire threat mounts - Overgrown and tinder-dry sections are causing increasing concern in the Queenstown Lakes District as the La Nina weather pattern promises more hot weather in store, Queenstown Lakes District Council principal rural fire officer Gordon Bailey said.
- QLDC's CEO performance review undertaken - Queenstown Lakes District Council today announced the results of the 2006/07 performance review of its chief executive officer Mr Duncan Field.
The image at the top of this weeks edition is proof that construction may have begun on the Queenstown Skatepark. There is now a fence, and some dirt has been turned over. This is a promising start. The image below is a sneak peek inside Queenstown's newest storage centre that was okied by QLDC CEO, Duncan Field. Let's hope the rumoured figure of $4000 per week was enough to warrant the closure of the entire ice skating rink for 3 months.
And lastly before I head off to help with the wireless installation here at the Fiordland National Park Lodge, our Queenstown Jobs section is now being regularly updated and is proving rather popular. This section is now the 3rd most popular on the entire Queenstown.com website, receiving more views than our weather station. This is a free service for all businesses in town, so if you know of anyone looking for staff or employment, point them in this direction. Until next Monday, take care everyone,
Nathan - Queenstown.com Editor.
