It's a question summer-deprived Wellingtonians couldn't be blamed for asking: Why is Australia sweltering in a heat wave while their own city hasn't broken 25C all season?

A body has been discovered in North Hagley Park in Christchurch this morning.

Christchurch and Japanese academics are developing new drone technologies that would be able to locate people buried in wreckage following natural disasters.

In the past year this health board has agonised over its finances and where budgets should be boosted or cut - all behind closed doors.

A home in Luggate was well ablaze by the time firefighters arrived at the property.

Weary passengers forced to wait even longer after plane to Auckland is delayed yet again.

People are being warned to stay off a beach where the carcasses of hundreds of whales are at risk of exploding.

The shallow, snaking, braided channels of Canterbury's Waimakariri River - and the heavily-developed pastureland around it - have been captured by a NASA satellite.

Scientists have ruled out any suggestion this morning's 5.2 quake was linked to the mass whale stranding at Farewell Spit.

A cyclist sustained a serious head injury after being hit by a campervan in Dunedin today. A St John spokesman said an ambulance

A garage owner has defended displaying the Confederate flag after a Dunedin woman took to social media to register her shock at seeing it.

Two 13-year-olds fleeing police in a stolen car had to be stopped using spikes in Christchurch.

An elderly Nelson man who was reported missing after failing to arrive in Westport yesterday has been found alive and well.

EXCLUSIVE: Shelley Crooks has broken her silence on her miracle, six-week survival in the rugged West Coast bush.

Police say they have concerns for an elderly Nelson man who was due to arrive in Westport today, but has not been seen. Leslie Martin

Two children have narrowly avoided injury after almost being struck by a train this evening.

Hope for survivors of one of NZ's largest ever whale strandings is "slowly slipping away".

TVNZ confirmed this week season two of Coast New Zealand was currently in production.

The Government now says its rheumatic fever target might not be met until next year or even mid-2019.

A drug user went to the police after swapping his car for rock salt.

The report into the effectiveness of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority is unbalanced and misses the point, Minister Gerry Brownlee says.

Twenty-nine figures stood in silence on the Pike River Mine access road this morning - each decked out in overalls, work boots, miner's helmets and the name tags of the 29 men who died in the 2010 mine disaster.

West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor has stoked the campaign to relocate the historic steam train the Kingston Flyer to the West Coast.

Kiwi Rail says 17,000 Tranz Alpine bookings are affected by the closure of the Midland Line after bridges were badly damaged in a scrub fire at the weekend.

Firefighters are battling a blaze that has broken out at Airborne Honey in Christchurch.

KiwiRail is offering full refunds to Tranz Alpine passengers as it anticipates the fire-hit rail link between Canterbury and the West Coast could be out for at least six weeks.

Pike River Mine families have been granted a meeting with PM Bill English, on February 15, as Parliamentary committee considers sealing of mine.

An outdoors survival expert says water and shelter were the keys to staying alive for unexpected and lengthy times in the bush.

Peter Foster knows first hand how tough it can be to make a go of it in New Zealand, and he doubts the billionaires heading to NZ will last long.

AJ Hackett Bungy staff have won praise from police and their boss for their response to a serious road crash outside the company's Queenstown operation.