![Far North: Back of beyond](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Far North: Back of beyond
Cate Foster takes a nostalgic drive through the hill country between Herekino and Hokianga.
Cate Foster takes a nostalgic drive through the hill country between Herekino and Hokianga.
A Ruakaka man caught drink driving on a quad bike twice in a week - both times while more than double the legal limit - has been jailed for his third and fourth drink-driving convictions.
From kitchen cupboards and ceiling cavities to large commercial crops hidden under native bush canopy, police are destroying illegal cannabis grown in Northland as part of their annual drug blitz.
Moerewa is facing up to the gang rivalries that over recent weeks have been credited with a drive-by shooting, a stabbing and the torching of cars, but not by isolating those believed to be responsible.
An 18-year-old thief might have set a reparation record after being ordered to repay $1.25 for stolen nectarines.
A 19-year-old woman who emerged from a burning Northland house following an explosion was hosed down by neighbours until emergency services arrived.
A Far North fire boss has had a gutsful of "stupid people" ignoring a total fire ban and putting lives and property at risk, with 37 fire callouts in the district so far this year, including two yesterday.
The Auckland housing boom is having a ripple effect on Northland's coastal property market, real estate experts say.
Police arrested four members of one family after a motorbike was allegedly driven around a Kaikohe street in a dangerous manner.
A woman caught driving while allegedly almost three-and-a-half times over the legal alcohol limit had two small children in the car, horrifying police who stopped her.
A suspected arson at a beautiful but remote Northland settlement has revived grievances over land ownership.
Northland could be declared an official drought zone within weeks if the dry, windy weather continues.
A Far North district councillor has just days to stump up more than $800,000 or face bankruptcy.
A total fire ban will come into force across the Far North from noon today as continued dry weather sends the fire risk soaring.
A Northland man who had been repairing Queensland roads damaged in floods in 2010 and 2011 has been stranded in Bundaberg as a result of ex-cyclone Oswald.
An East Coast man on the dole for 25 years is the longest unemployment beneficiary in the country and has been paid more than $260,000 in taxpayer money.
Dreams of owning a traditional Kiwi bach are once again within reach as coastal property prices lag far behind cities.
A suspicious blaze that destroyed 200ha of scrub, bush and forestry on the Pouto Peninsula also wiped out vulnerable indigenous flora and fauna.
A Whangarei man was set upon by six siblings weeks after his relationship with one of them ended and he moved in with another woman.
A Far North benefit fraudster has agreed to repay nearly $100,000 but it will take him nearly 200 years.