Strong winds off the coast of Taranaki have pushed trans-Tasman kayaker Scott Donaldson even further from shore.

Anti-oil exploration protesters have put up banners in Wellington ahead of the National Party's Annual Conference.

A former Mount Maunganui lifeguard has been hailed as a hero after he helped to save the life of a toddler found face-down in the ocean in the UK.

A kayaker paddling from Australia to New Zealand is making headway again after running dangerously low on supplies and hunkering down in bad weather.

Danielle Wright's last words to her parents were "bye, see you in three months". But she would never see them again, and a year later mystery surrounds her final days.

The sole survivor of the Easy Rider fishing boat tragedy that killed eight people pleaded with a judge to be merciful during a company owner's sentencing today.

A baby critically injured in a crash near Kopaki, Waikato, this morning was unrestrained on its mother's lap when the car hit a bank.

A South Korean man has drowned after diving into a popular river rockslide pool to save two children.

The parents of the German teenagers presumed drowned in Foveaux Strait are returning home and say they know they are leaving their daughters behind.

A baby who drowned at a popular marina is believed to have wriggled out of a stroller parked on a narrow walkway beside the water.

A father saw his daughters' faces flash before him as he risked his life, diving into the surf to save two girls caught in a rip at a Hawkes Bay beach yesterday.

The bodies came through the night and through the morning, their faces black with blood that had pooled and darkened under the skin.

After more than three days of frustration and failure, divers finally found a way into a submerged ferry off South Korea's southern shore.

As the battle to free 290 from a sunken ferry in South Korea continues, it's emerged texts purported to be sent from trapped children were a hoax.

Sharks have forced themselves back into the minds of Australians.

A Northland family on a day trip and a local triathlete "jumped into action" to help save a 4-year-old boy after his father went into cardiac arrest.

'Foveaux Strait is an iffy strait'. A woman who lost four family members when the Easy Rider sank says she's distressed by the guilty verdict slapped on the skipper's widow.

Surfers rescued two men who were thrown from their boat while trying to enter the Buller River off Carters Beach, Westport.

A free diver who was dragged to the depths of the ocean by a killer whale has told how he got down to his "last breath" during the terrifying ordeal.

Stewart and Sonja Goodsir were on the water heading home after a day's fishing when they noticed the smoke.