Spreadable bacon cooked up in a Papamoa kitchen is taking New Zealand by storm after former truck driver turned barbecue king Mike Jeffries stumbled on a winning idea.

Flooding hit Papamoa on Wednesday night after heavy rain.

Club rugby highlights from around the Bay.

Emergency services are responding to an incident in the Lower Kaimai area. At least eight police units, two fire units and the Armed Offenders Squad are at the scene, near the intersection of SH29 and Old Kaimai Rd.

More than 150 people gathered in the freezing ran on Tauranga waterfront for a Rally for Moko, to take a stand against New Zealand's horrific child abuse.

The launch of Grim Tales, a collaboration of the Tauranga Women's Refuge and The Incubator.

Studying students were in for a furry treat when the Waiariki Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Tauranga SPCA collaborated to bring puppies to the library.

Born and bred Tauranga resident Ross Boreham has been kept in Mount Maunganui for 44 years by family and the beach. The only way he would ever leave? "In a casket."

Born-and-bred Tauranga resident Noel Peterson "hasn't gone far in life", living in the house next door to the one he grew up in.

Heavy rain drenched the Bay of Plenty this week. Police appealed to the public on Wednesday and yesterday to avoid any unnecessary travel in the Bay of Plenty region with numerous reports of slips and flooding.

Priscilla and her 4-year-old daughter Chardonnay (who likes to be called Barbie Princess) lived in their car with Priscilla's partner for six weeks. Now, they have a home to call their own.

Club rugby highlights from around the Bay set to a groovy soundtrack.

Prime Minister John Key dropped in on Tauranga, visiting Mount Intermediate, Beca and Trustpower. Here, at a media stand-up in Mount Intermediate library our reporter grills him about the issue of homelessness in Tauranga.

Sushi has been gone for eight years, returning home once only briefly. Fletcher Osbourne, who wrote a song for Sushi and was a finalist in NZ's Got Talent because of it, had not seen hide nor hair of Sushi for the past six years but she's back home and as loving as ever.

Staff at the ANZ building show their support for Waipuna Hospice by wearing their shorts on the shortest day of the year to raise money for the hospice. Bonus: shorts, shorts, shorts... undies (at 38 seconds).

Tauranga woman Larissa Allen has her eyes set on winning Miss Universe New Zealand.

Silver Birch Holiday Park managers Tony and Sharon Makai are inundated with people needing a roof over their head and have opened their campground up to people struggling to find a home.

Tarihira Morgan takes us on a tour of the tiny campground cabin she and her three children share. The rental situation in Tauranga has become so bad, she is one of several families calling the Silver Birch Holiday Park home.

A large crowd of people gathered in their bathers or zany costumes to go for a mid-winter dunk in the ocean to help raise money for their community.

Two humanoid robots visited the House of Science in Tauranga to show scientists, students and the public just how advanced robotics has become. This little guy can dance, play soccer, talk, snap his fingers and more.

Hundreds of people crowded on Tauranga waterfront to show solidarity for the victims in the nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.

A mysterious fire destroyed a car in Otumoetai. It appears to have begun in the back, creating flames which rose 6-7 feet high, according to a neighbour.

Social media is helping a community of mothers receive breast milk for their babies from other mothers who donate their own expressed milk.

Rope, balls and a new seating arrangement have popped up at Bayfair mall thanks to the latest challenge taken on by the Ninja Knits.

Born profoundly deaf Jurnee, 9, has faced a life of difficulties in trying to keep up with those around her. Now a mission is on to help her get a cochlear implant so she can hear.

Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation chief executive Roger Taylor discusses the homeless issue in Tauranga, highlighting women and children are often go unidentified and vulnerable.

Priscilla Pukeroa, 25, her partner Anthony Daniels, 52, and their daughter Chardonnay spent six weeks sleeping in their car in Tauranga parks as they hunted for a rental. They are now living in a motel as they continue to search for a permanent home.

Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services director Tommy Wilson announced the Tauranga Moana Maori Trust had offered the agency one of its buildings in central city to launch its Whare for Whanau project - which would accommodate struggling families.

Club rugby highlights from around the Bay.

Health and safety rules have thwarted a bid to convince skeptical ratepayers that the council’s civic offices were not fit for human habitation.