Wānaka’s festival season is drawing to an end and colder weather is heralding winter, bringing a change to police work, says Wānaka Police’s new senior sergeant Fiona (Fi) Roberts.

Uncommon sense in the hills

Fi said police have been dealing with the consequences of the change in weather, including a search and rescue (SAR) job up the Wilkin Valley on Tuesday (April 9) evening.

“A couple of tourists it would appear did not use common sense, despite knowing a weather system was coming through,” she said.

“It appears common sense sometimes isn't all that common.”

She advised people to ensure they have sufficient bushcraft for their location, do some research, and “have an exit strategy; carry a beacon”.

The tourists were caught out and spent “an incredibly uncomfortable night” in the valley. 

Attempts to get them out on Tuesday evening were not successful but the pair were assisted out on Wednesday morning by helicopter.

“We’ve enjoyed some amazing weather,” Fi said. “That has stopped. So pack your raincoat, listen to the weather forecast. 

“I’m not Jim Hickey but the weather’s not going away in the next couple of days; it’s getting worse.”

Fi said caution should also be applied to driving, particularly around alpine passes such as the Lindis and Crown Range, and the Haast Pass.

“Be careful what’s on the road; if you’re coming around the corner expect there to be debris. If you’re travelling anywhere, pack another hour or two into your day. Pack a thermos. If you’re running late it creates pressure to make poor decisions ”

Road accident

Fi said the Wānaka police team attended a nasty accident around Haast overnight on Friday (April 5) between a car and two motorcycles.

Two people were helicoptered to hospital with serious injuries, she said.

“Slow down, have your risk assessment dialled in well.

“When we do have a motor vehicle accident here it’s usually on the open road and it's usually going to be ugly. It’s going to push people into other areas and lead to delays.”

Fiona said people could consider what they have in their car to make their trip more comfortable, because around here delays and road closures can mean “we’re not asking you to go around the block, we’re asking you to go round half the country”.

With school holidays approaching Fi also asked people to plan ahead, be tolerant, and look out for children.

Macpherson Street is ‘not a racetrack’

Fi said roadworks around town have resulted in people being re-routed and taking short cuts, one of which has been Macpherson Street (between Ballantyne Road and SH84).

Residents have reported speeding and poor driving and are “really upset about it”.

“People are annoyed about the lack of compliance of 40kph. It’s not a racetrack.”

Both police and Queenstown Lakes District Council are now involved in finding solutions.

Well behaved festival season

Festival season is “just about over” and Fi congratulated people on their behaviour at the various events. 

“It’s been really good,” she said.

Aspiring Conversations attracted a peaceful protest on Saturday and two police officers were present but there were no issues arising from it, Fi said. 

Lost property process

Wānaka is an exceptional and honest community which returns a high volume of lost property, including wallets with cash, Fiona said.

When people leave things in the dropbox outside the station “it would be really helpful if there was a note saying where you found it and who you are”, she said, as sometimes people want to thank the person who returned their property. 

Call 111 when you need an emergency response from police, fire or ambulance.

Call 105 to report things that don’t need urgent police assistance.

Call *555 to report road incidents that are urgent but not life-threatening.

To make an anonymous crime report contact Crime Stoppers.

PHOTO: Wānaka App