A born-again Christian who killed three people by grabbing the wheel of a car and steering it into an oncoming bus is fighting for new evidence to clear his name.

Herald Online reporter Paul Harper is making his way around the South Island by rail.

Increased alcohol consumption and higher levels of depression, stress and anxiety have been linked to residents living in some areas of quake-hit Christchurch.

Engineers will today pack explosives into huge boulders that have closed Milford Rd in Fiordland, as residents face their fifth day cut off.

An independent weatherman has hit out at the MetService, claiming it was too slow to issue a severe weather warning for Auckland at the weekend.

Police have arrested 37 people in Christchurch today during an annual end of year "Tea Party'' drinking event for university students.

A 29-year-old farmhand has today pleaded guilty to murdering a woman in July - but the man and his victim's identities remain suppressed.

The parents of a man washed out to sea while whitebaiting on Sunday are urging people to wear lifejackets, even if they are on shore.

The whitebaiter swept out to sea at the Rakaia River mouth last night has been named by police.

A whitebaiter in Canterbury was spotted by a rescue helicopter, then moments later swept out to sea.