Access to one of NZ's top fishing rivers has been closed - upsetting local tourism operators and anglers throughout the country.

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.

A 54-year-old NZ army veteran involved in an eleven-hour standoff with Brisbane police has been seen dousing his yacht with liquid from a jerry can.

A 54-year-old New Zealand army veteran is at the centre of a standoff with police in Brisbane, causing parts of the CBD to be put into lockdown.

Britain's most famous waterway is smelling sweeter these days.

A hunting trip turned to tragedy when a group tried to raft out of a remote part of Eastern Bay of Plenty on a swollen river.

Heavy rain has left Gisborne virtually cut off, with surface flooding closing roads and forcing the evacuation of homes.

Heavy rain is lashing the North Island's East Coast, leaving dozens of homes without power and closing rural schools and roads.

Schools have closed, houses are without power and homes have been evacuated as rain continues to lash the Gisborne region.

Sewage will flow into the Kaiapoi River for at least another month and it could take a year to rebuild all the area's quake-damaged sewerage systems.

Around 800 people fairwelled Sir Archie Taiaroa today before his casket was taken down the Whanganui River to his final resting place.

Tests revealing faultlines along the proposed route of a hydro-electric tunnel on Canterbury's Waitaki River have sparked a redesign of the power project.

Rain has worsened flooding on a Canterbury farm where a river has forked along an earthquake fault line, cutting through the property.