A kiteboarder killed in front of his wife in a Christmas holiday tragedy was lifted 20 metres in the air by a gust of wind - and flung to his death more than a kilometre away.

New Year's Day is tipped to offer sunny weather for most of the country and some respite from the recent muggy, humid weather.

A 2-year-old boy has been flown to hospital with head injuries after plunging two metres from a bridge near a remote cafe in Golden Bay.

The wife of a Tahunanui man was present as he crashed after strong gusts lifted him off the ground this afternoon.

New Zealand's road to the 2012 London Olympic begins in Adelaide this weekend at the Oceania track championships.

A woman whose family was terrorised by two drunken sailors says she does not want to see the men thrown out of the New Zealand Navy.

A Nelson woman whose family was terrorised by two drunken sailors wants to meet them face-to-face, and says they should not be thrown out of the Navy.

A surly swan is terrorising a stretch of Nelson's Maitai River - chasing kids, harassing a woman with a pram and having a hissy fit at a kayaker.