Don't let the morning cloud fool you - it is set to be a fine Boxing Day for New Zealanders, with Central Otago tipped as the best place to be.

A man has been injured in a serious assault in Christchurch.

Queenstown and Wanaka are expected to be the hottest.

Police have caught a man in Canterbury after earlier warning he was dangerous and should not be approached.

Police are hunting for a man in Canterbury, and are warning people not to approach him.

Nearly a year ago, Craig Hickford was on life-support and close to death. Today, he is back on his feet and looking ahead to Christmas with family.

The best spots for enjoying a Christmas hamper outdoors will be in the Bay of Plenty, Nelson and Central Otago tomorrow.

Steve Braunias looks back on a year of thinking dangerously.

Three people have been arrested thanks to a group of brave Colac Bay residents who helped police foil a bid to burgle a holiday home.

The driver already had 125 demerit points when he was caught speeding four times in about an hour in the Lindis Pass.

Jo-Anne Ireland, from Alexandra, is not keen on the small garden-dwellers - but every year she gets a present from 'Santa'.

After extensive fire damage the Greymouth fishing boat Te Aroha has risen from the ashes and is back trawling off the West Coast.

A downed line that sent a high-voltage current down an electric fence on a Port Chalmers property yesterday could have been deadly.

Christmas Day should be fine but be ready for thunderstorms in the coming days.

It's the biggest cruise ship to visit and likely the most valuable machine to call at New Zealand.

GRAPHIC WARNING: A calf has been brutally shot at least five times and left to die a slow painful death in the South Island.

Burglars snuck into the destroyed two-story house and stole the only salvageable items including a TV, a cabinet and food.

Ross pensioner Sam Viney already has the NZCC Rescue Helicopter to thank for saving his life - more than once - and now he has 10,000 more reasons to thank the rescue service.

A Sydney conman who fleeced $500,000 out of a Christchurch man in a vending machine scam has today been jailed for 15 months and will

The owner of the mysterious object found washed up on a Southland beach has come forward.

A solo paraglider was seriously injured after plunging about 9m to the ground near Arrowtown last night.

A major Dunedin tourism operator says it may be time to reconsider turning away public bookings in favour of cruise ship passengers.

A man who caused the armed offenders squad to swoop on a Queenstown property has been sentenced.

The super-rich are booking into this just-opened lakefront penthouse.

Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher has had enough of the "lowlife who has left their pathetic tags" around Oamaru, including on private and

Bill English's new Cabinet heard proposals on the earthquake-ravaged Christchurch Cathedral rebuild today.

The owner of a Christchurch home where a man posing as a delivery driver forced his way inside today and tied up a husband and wife for three hours has been "targeted" before, a source says.

There was a record downpour in Auckland, a tornado in Taranaki and "quake lights" above Wellington. Oh, and 2016 was likely also New Zealand's hottest year on record.

A bad weather forecast has scuppered the historic Dunedin visit of mega-cruise ship the Ovation of the Seas on Thursday.

Rescuers say it's fortunate there wasn't a double fatality after two climbers fell 200m at Mt Aspiring.