A tramper last seen entering the Heaphy Track at the top of the South Island two weeks ago has been reported missing.

Searchers scouring the Tasman Sea near Norfolk Island for the missing American yacht Nina have come up empty-handed.

Sighting of liferaft similar to one carried by Nina spurs renewed effort to find her and 7 people missing since June.

Despite a number of avalanches on The Remarkables mountain range in recent years it is not considered a danger zone, says a mountain safety expert.

Since the birth of his first child this year Jamie Vinton-Boot had toned down his risky mountain climbing. He was killed yesterday by an avalanche.

The New Zealand Alpine Club says a climber swept to his death in an avalanche near Queenstown was "one of New Zealand's most gifted alpinists".

The body of a local politician has been found in Lake Wanaka, after his family raised the alarm when he failed to return from a fly-fishing trip at the Makarora River mouth.

A baby survived a 30m fall from a cable car - which killed her parents - by landing in a tree.

The body of a man found in the Hokianga Harbour will be released to his family for burial as soon as his identity is confirmed.

Family and friends of a Hokianga man missing for a week after going to set his fishing net will resume their search today in the hope Tangaroa, Maori god of the sea, will give up his body.

Police have found a body near the property of Dannevirke man William Kerry Power, who has been missing since Tuesday.

An elderly Katikati woman lost in the bush braved the cold weather and dark conditions for more than three hours while she waited for a search and rescue team to come to her aid.

A group of trampers who went missing in the Ruahine Range yesterday have been found safe and well.

An Air Force Orion is searching near Norfolk Island today for missing vintage American schooner Nina.

The sister of the captain of the missing yacht Nina says the worst possible outcome would be for the crew to be lost at sea forever and to never know what happened.

Two men standing on an upturned boat and one man found clinging to the hull were rescued after they set off their distress beacon off the Waikato coast over the weekend.

An adventure company responsible for a rock-climbing expedition during which three people were swept to their deaths has pleaded guilty to failing to ensure their safety.

A hunter has died after falling more than 10m onto rocks from a cable bridge near Hanmer Springs.

A mother and daughter have been winched to safety from a rocky ledge on Wairarapa's remote south coast.

Snoopy is a survivor. The 4-year-old spaniel-cross spent six hours stranded on a Dunedin cliff ledge in the cold and rain yesterday.