Wanaka has been busy over the last week with the Festival of Colour bringing many people to town to soak up an amazing array of events.

With the borders opening up with our Australian cousins, Queenstown and Wanaka will be catering for a new wave of visitors keen to see some new scenery and loosen their wallets.

Local police have been kept busy with a number of incidents over the last week, not all for public consumption, but there was a vehicle crash on the Crown Range on Friday (16 April) where a vehicle rolled onto its roof at Bridge 6. The driver was shaken up but not injured.

Also on Friday police dealt with a drink driver who produced a very high alcohol reading after being stopped on Helwick Street.

Over the weekend there was another crash where a vehicle was following too close and ran into the rear of the vehicle ahead of it. A timely reminder for drivers to stick to the ‘two-second’ rule, which becomes the ‘three-second’ rule when roads are wet/during winter.

Police also attended a vehicle crash in the Kirimoko area of town over the weekend where a van crashed. The Queenstown driver was processed for drink driving after driving over wheelie bins, letter boxes and vacant sections. Fortunately, when he collided with a large boulder in a landscaped area, the van rolled onto its side, bringing his joy ride to a sudden halt.

For local cyclists, there is currently an operation being conducted by police for helmets to be worn and lights used during the hours of darkness. This is for the benefit of both cyclists and motorists as cyclists will invariably come off second best in a crash.

A reminder to do your pre-winter vehicle checks; tyres including the spare; wiper blades; snow chains; ice scraper for all windows and anti-freeze top up.

Have a safe week.

Kia pai to wiki