Big swells predicted to surge up the eastern side of New Zealand from Kaikoura to north of Mahia Peninsula

EXCLUSIVE: Family members recall how Leotisia Malakai - the third victim of a horrific bus crash near Gisborne - slipped into a coma and never woke up.

Leticia Malakai's death brings the holiday road toll to 19 - the highest since the 2011/2012 period.

As most Kiwis were partying to see the new year in, others were being born.

The MetService is forecasting rain for much of New Zealand today, perhaps ruining plans for post-party barbecues and sunbathing.

Revellers packed out bars and party-hot spots the length of the country last night to welcome in 2017. Fine weather in most of the

A spectacular fireworks display off Auckland's Sky Tower and parties around the country herald the start of a new year.

American hip hop artist Chance the Rapper wooed a capacity crowd on the first day of Rhythm and Vines, telling the crowd he would move to NZ.

Sombre music rang out as the band opened the service with a tribute to Sione Taumalolo, 11, and Talita Moimoi Fifita, 33, killed in the bus crash.

The surviving members of the Tongan band involved in last week's bus crash will fly to Auckland tomorrow, courtesy of Air New Zealand.

Revellers at this year's Rhythm and Vines festival are warned if they drive home expect to be breath-tested.

Plans to recover a bus that plunged down a bank, killing two, have been delayed until tomorrow.

Tonga's deputy prime minister is focused on getting the schoolchildren involved in a Christmas Eve bus tragedy in New Zealand home.

A teen killed alongside two young friends in a "preventable" early morning crash has been remembered in an emotional tribute urging other drivers to take care.

The 11-year-old boy who died in the Christmas Eve bus crash was "quiet, kind and smiley" his sister says.

State Highway 2 between Gisborne and Wairoa will be closed at some point over the next two days to investigate at fatal bus crash.

Her smile always made him happy, says the widower of Gisborne bus crash victim.

Don't let the morning cloud fool you - it is set to be a fine Boxing Day for New Zealanders, with Central Otago tipped as the best place to be.

Two people have died after a bus carrying school bands and their chaperons from Tonga went 100m off a bank and crashed south of Gisborne.

What will start out as a cloudy morning for most of the country should clear as the Christmas day wears on, but the odd shower is in store too.

Wet weather today will clear throughout the country making way for a mainly fine Christmas weekend.

There was a record downpour in Auckland, a tornado in Taranaki and "quake lights" above Wellington. Oh, and 2016 was likely also New Zealand's hottest year on record.

A patient at Waikato Hospital says he was told he was a "faggot" by a doctor who arrived allegedly drunk in his room in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Final repairs were made this morning to high voltage lines which were brought down when a light plane crashed, killing the two people on board.

The teacher having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl was not fired from the school where he worked over his contact with the girl, an inquest heard.

Reiha McLelland's mother broke down in tears as inquest hears 13-year-old may have wanted parents to know about her plans to harm herself.

Brownie lived a life of abuse and agony. Finally, she was bashed about the head with a claw hammer and the open wounds were left to become maggot-infested, in one of the most severe and disturbing cases the SPCA has seen.

The man who added to the anxiety of Gisborne residents this week after warning of an earthquake insists he has "nothing to apologise for".

Reiha McLelland would be alive today if it were not for her "inappropriate" relationship with her intermediate school teacher, the inquest into her death has been told.

Now that Gisborne is out of the unexpected chaos and back to the usual Christmas mayhem, locals are reflecting on how it all started. Made with funding from NZ On Air.