A windy week with a bit of rain, the lake has been very rough at times, quite unsettled for those intending to get out on the water or head for the hills, patience is required.

Police are still tidying up after the nasty crash out by the Wanaka Airport on SH6, and another one later in the day near the approach to the Albert Town Bridge on SH6.

We’ve had a couple of fraud scams come to light this week. If you get a call from anyone posing as your bank, take their name and then look up the bank phone number yourself and call them back. Better yet, if there’s a branch in town, pop in. These scammers are particularly good at social engineering and making you believe they are who they say they are, and they will try everything under the sun to make you feel a sense of urgency that you need to follow their instructions there and then – don’t! Come see us if you have any questions and we’ll help you out.

Alcohol has led to some feuds in the recreational areas around town this week. I’m happy to say that it wasn’t from locals, but visitors. Poor anti-social and abusive behaviour is not what this community welcomes and we will not tolerate it.

Community mental health should always be an area for us to be aware of. This week Police did their very best and spent considerable time with those in crisis. Even those who appear well on the outside may be dealing with something on the inside and we should all be mindful of this. Be kind to one another.

On Saturday night there was a large gathering at Timaru Creek off Gladstone Road, Hawea, with 400-500 people enjoying a drink and some music through the night well into daylight hours. Some drivers were processed for drink-driving as a result of a police alcohol checkpoint the following morning.

Enjoy the festive season with Christmas in your Wanaka App

Two males were arrested on Sunday evening for breaching their court bail conditions.

On Monday (30 November) evening police were alerted that eleven trampers were overdue from their walk up the Wilkin near Makarora. Extensive enquiries and some local help found that six of the group had already walked out and gone home and the other five of the group had decided to spend an extra night in the Siberia hut - so all ended well. It appears that communication was not their strong point. Please remember to communicate your intentions to someone and then update them if you change your plans. It may save your life and will also save our local Search and Rescue volunteers their precious time!

I’m sure you all would have seen the booze bus in town this week. Unfortunately, too many had alcohol detected and one driver was detected driving with five times the legal limit of alcohol.

Along with intersections, speed, seatbelts and cell phones, impaired driving will be a focus around Wanaka leading up to Christmas, so remember to stop for 3 seconds at stop signs, leave home 30 seconds earlier to get to your destination and use hands-free phone devices (and that doesn’t mean put them on your knee!) and most importantly don’t drink and drive. Let’s all take responsibility to keep our roads safe this summer!

Have a safe week.