Christmas photo calls are a little different when you are a member of the Royal NZ Navy's operational diving team.

The week before Christmas is the busiest at Auckland Airport. We spend 24 hours at the entry gate, witnessing the drama.

The road toll is set to be the lowest in more than 60 years if drivers pay attention and behave themselves on the roads over the Christmas period.

`Tis the season of comfort and joy. If your weekend - and next week - is looking crazy uncomfortable, here are our tips for de-stressing. Take things down a notch. Breathe.

Men spend far less time choosing gifts, apparently. Here's some advice to help them on their way to gift bliss this Christmas.

This Christmas we want to love food and hate waste. Check out our favourite leftover recipes and share your own idea.

Because there's no fun in a truly cheerful lead-up to the 25th we've assembled a selection of gripes for the so-called festive season.

Gore District Mayor Ben Bell and staff recreating iconic Love Actually scene. Video / Gore District Council

We've unearthed a bunch of gadgets to help take the grief out of roadtrips.

When your life is affected by a chronic disease, living each day as normally as possible is very important.

A woman who was told she was terminally ill has extra reason to celebrate this Christmas - her doctors now say her cancer has gone.

City Missioner Diane Robertson is a schoolteacher turned therapist and charity chief whose abusive childhood once made Christmas Day a nightmare. She and her staff and volunteers will make Christmas dinner for 2,500 people next week.

Money lending firms are offering lavish gifts and prizes to entice people into taking out high-interest loans for Christmas.

We love to save our feet from hours of Christmas shopping, save the planet from stuff nobody wants, and show the people we love how kind we are.

People will be heading for the great outdoors to try out their presents this Christmas, if Trade Me searches are any indication.

Our Kiwi retailers have been embracing digital change. This doesn't mean they're abandoning their High St stores.

Community trust's mobile van brings party to youth to try to replace fighting with fun times.

It's shaping up to be an outdoor Christmas for many Kiwis, a list of most searched for items on popular auction site Trade Me suggests.

Shelley Bridgeman has indentified some key types of presents almost guaranteed to aggravate the recipient.

A young girl in the UK is set to be reunited with her favourite teddy bear following a remarkable social media appeal launched by the woman who found it.

Made of kilograms of gingerbread, litres of icing and entire sacks of lollies, this edible gingerbread village is the largest ever made.

New Zealanders have spent more than $2.2 billion on their Eftpos cards in the first two weeks of December.

The US$111.05 ($134) New York restaurant receipt includes a US$1000 tip and the words "god bless!" scrawled across it.

Planning on checking your emails from the beach or bach this summer? You're not alone. New research finds Kiwis are among the most hooked on work during holidays.

Don't bank on firing up the barbie on Christmas Day - rain is possible around the country, according to MetService.

Businesses are smiling, frazzled customers are queuing and there are still nine more days of shopping to go.