DNA has just changed what we know about our feisty, flightless native weka.

Helen van Berkel discovers the windswept treasures of our islands off to the side.

A Chatham Islands airline pioneer is honoured for services to aviation and the community.

Flood-stricken Bay of Plenty among many areas in line to get more wet weather.

A whale rescue expert is critical Department of Conservation crews didn't act sooner in last night's devastating whale stranding.

Fewer than half of councils have enough staff trained to respond to marine oil spills.

More preliminary elections results are trickling in from the regions this morning - Kaipara District has a new mayor and the Chatham Islands have re-elected its current mayor.

A message in a bottle found in the Chatham Islands has helped solve the mystery of another letter in a bottle found on Nelson's Boulder Bank more than a decade ago.

Twenty two taiko chicks were hatched from 26 eggs this breeding season, nine more chicks than the previous seasonal record of 13.

Clare Gleeson shared the lonely and lovely Chatham Island with a handful of tourists.

Chathams' history is as stirring as its winds, while the rugged shoreline of the bay looks like a place where dreams come to die, writes Jim Eagles.

A visit to the Chatham Islands is high on the bucket list for many New Zealanders. For when it comes to fishing, hunting, diving, snorkelling, tramping, enjoying the outdoors and simply kicking back, it is like going back in time 50 years.

The Government will invest $400,000 into social housing for low-income tenants in the Chatham Islands, Prime Minister John Key has announced.

Magnificent formations on the Chathams deserve their own tales, writes Jim Eagles.

Driving round the main Chatham island you see weka everywhere - in fact, they're a pest, writes Jim Eagles.

They're almost as rare as hen's teeth, but Jim Eagles finally lands his shark tooth in the Chathams.

NASA has just released this amazing image of phytoplankton bloom around the Chatham Islands.

Jim Eagles enjoys exploring the aviation history of the Chatham Islands.

Beauty, mystery, death and destruction await Jim Eagles when he makes a long-anticipated visit to the Chatham Islands.

Rock and tree carvings exist as the remnants of a past fraught with tragedy in the Chatham Islands.

Jim Eagles reflects on his journey to one of New Zealand's most isolated outposts, the Chatham Islands.