Elisabeth Easther enjoys the grotto and more at a lakeside retreat in Taupo.

The first time she attempted a skydive, London woman Gwendolyn DeSilva heard the engine cut out and had to make a daring mid-air escape before watching the plane plummet.

The engine of a skydiving plane, which is suspected to have failed over Lake Taupo, will be sent to Canada this week for analysis.

The pilot of a skydiving plane which suffered a suspected engine failure over Lake Taupo was on his first day of flying unsupervised when he made the call to abandon the aircraft.

Skydive instructor on his escape from the plane that nosedived into Lake Taupo this week - and how he felt jumping out of a plane today.

'I survived a fricking plane crash. Nope, not even kidding.' One of the survivors of the Taupo skydive plane crash is glad to be alive.

The type of New Zealand-built aircraft involved in yesterday's skydiving crash has never been in an accident due to a mechanical error before, its maker says.

"Exiting a plane at low altitude to get out and activate parachutes and have them open normally and land safely is amazing."

A man has died while kayaking on Lake Taupo following a suspected heart attack on Monday.

Mighty River Power and the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board have signed a deal over water in Lake Taupo, the terms of which the electricity generator says are confidential.

A Waikato woman was amazed when a last-minute airfare to travel from Taupo to Nelson cost her $445 - more than a return flight to Sydney.

The family of a teenage girl who lost two teeth after being shoved by a police officer at a party is "considering the options" after it was found police exceeded their powers.

A truck driver was hospitalised after chemicals leaked from his truck near Taupo overnight, the fire service says.

A crash near Taupo this morning may have been caused by black ice.

Conservatives leader Colin Craig has won an eleventh-hour High Court scrap over his exclusion from a televised political debate.

Paul Charman on the joys of a weekend driving around the Central Plateau.

One person has died and another suffered minor injuries after a Ferrari crashed at Taupo Motorsport Park this afternoon.

A pilot and a crew member had a lucky escape when their rescue helicopter plummeted to the ground after striking tall trees while trying to land at Taupo Hospital yesterday.

Two drivers have been cut out of their respective vehicles with the jaws of life following a head-on crash near Taupo this morning.

A man found dead on a rural Taupo road yesterday has been identified as 62-year-old Graham Orringe from Napier.

The body of a man, believed to be in his 60s, has been discovered a few hundred metres from his vehicle on a rural road near Taupo.