A convicted rapist now being sought by police had been commended for his post-release progress only months before when the parole board said it did not need to see him again.

Who We Are: David Fisher and videographer Mark Mitchell visit Hokitika in their search for what it means to be Kiwi in 2016.

Fifty-year-old man had been fishing at the Clarence River mouth when he was swept away.

A humpback whale missing most of its tail has been spotted off Kaikoura.

A man who was rescued by a helicopter pilot who today admitted a flying breach said "there's no way a man can be convicted for saving someone's life".

A seemingly "out of it" topless woman has been spotted walking along State Highway 1 near Ohau Point north of Kaikoura this afternoon.

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake has struck off the coast of Kaikoura.

The parents of a baby girl left in a campervan on a hot day said they were "regularly checking on their child".

Arden Rooney may not have open-class form but the man who knows best says he is a genuine topliner.

A truck driver is thought to have been on the phone to his nephew the moment his vehicle plunged down a cliff near Kaikoura, his brother says.

A truck driver is thought to have been on the phone to his nephew the moment his vehicle plunged down a cliff near Kaikoura, his brother says.

A search will continue this morning for a truck driver who has been missing since his vehicle crashed off a bank south of Kaikoura early on Wednesday.

A search will continue throughout the evening for a truck driver who has been missing since his vehicle crashed off a bank south of Kaikoura more than 24 hours ago.

A crane arrived this afternoon at the scene of a truck crash on the Kaikoura coast in which the driver has been missing since this morning.

A new evidence-based book has questioned whether whale and dolphin watching are the low-impact, sustainable industries many believe them to be.

Searchers are yet to locate a 79-year-old fisherman, missing off the Kaikoura coast after a boat he was in capsized this morning.

The body of a man has been found by searchers on the shoreline near Kaikoura after a boat capsized this morning.

Elisabeth Easther visits the South Island's sealife mecca.

An 18-year-old man is in Christchurch Hospital after being hit by a truck in Kaikoura this morning.

Police have named the man who died in a fire which engulfed his van parked near a popular Kaikoura surf spot - and have also ruled out foul play.

Police are still trying to work out how an Auckland man died in his car near a popular surfing spot in the South Island.

The tight-knit community of Kaikoura is mourning the loss of a man whose body was believed to have been found in a burnt-out van near a popular surf beach.