Queues of New Year's Eve traffic are beginning to build around the country.

The deaths of a teen riding on the back of a truck and a motorcylist this afternoon have brought the holiday road toll to five, while a serious crash stalled holiday traffic through Warkworth, north of Auckland.

A whale that washed up last week around 40km north of Muriwai beach on Auckland's west coast will be left to rot, the Department of Conservation says.

A diver failed to resurface after going underwater north of Kawau Island and has not been seen for several hours.

In her work as an event stylist, Sonia Couling can let her imagination run wild, and that approach has helped her when it comes to decorating her Warkworth home.

For years, families have dropped off chickens that no longer lay or are no longer loved at the State Highway 1 carpark. Now, cars are pulling up for another reason: to kidnap the wild chooks.

A shortened trip between Auckland and Warkworth makes the stop at Plume all the more worthwhile.

The second death in two years at a popular marine reserve has prompted calls for lifeguard patrols.

A grand historic homestead in a picturesque setting.

Make sure you have empty stomachs if you take the family out west to visit Helensville and South Head, writes Rachel Grunwell.

A new book by Shane Boocock features the best of adventure tourism in Auckland.

A new enterprise at Kaipara gives city folk the chance to reconnect with the countryside during a three-day walk, writes Catherine Smith.

One person was killed and two critically injured when a car collided with a school bus near Kumeu, west of Auckland, this afternoon.

The story behind the successful Morris & James pottery business is a tale that transcends clay and terracotta.

Deb Crowe waited for the perfect place to show her interior talents to eager clients - and her patience paid off ...

This curved finger of land, pointing into Kawau Bay, was sold to the Auckland Regional Council in 1998 by George Scandrett, whose family farmed here from 1863.