Police and coastguard staff say two tourists who took a drunken early morning harbour swim from Tauranga to Mt Maunganui are lucky to be alive.

A German tourist swam from Tauranga Harbour to Mount Maunganui after a night on the town.

Danielle Wright discovers clubs happy to welcome you in out of the cold.

A young mother who crashed her car into a park bench, catapulting her two children from the bonnet, did not "engage her brain", a court hears.

Severe rain and wind warnings and a drop in temperatures have been issued for parts of the South Island and lower North Island this weekend.

Two children seriously injured in a Bay of Plenty crash that killed their mother will today be released from Starship Hospital and will soon be heading home.

A 58-year-old woman suffered a broken leg when her car left the road in Tauranga, smashing through a fence and falling several metres over a bank into a property below.

A 58-year-old woman suffered a leg fracture when her car left the road in Tauranga, breaking through a fence and falling metres over a bank into a property below.

The family of Tauranga man who died after alleged medical misadventure is calling for better communication between Tauranga Hospital departments.

A message in a Powerade bottle sent by two young friends sought love from exotic shores.

An island hapu off the coast of Tauranga has come out as "not against the possibility" of leaving part of the wrecked container ship Rena on nearby Astrolabe Reef - and has distanced itself from an another island group which wants it gone.

A crash involving a logging truck and car has shut down the northbound lane of Tauranga's Takitimu Drive this morning.

Traffic is backed up after a crash involving a school bus and car this morning at Welcome Bay in the Bay of Plenty.

A Tauranga man has admitted causing the fatal head-on crash which killed Tauranga father Greg Woledge after his work van plunged off Maungatapu Bridge and into the river.

A waterfront dispute has broken out between two of New Zealand's biggest ports, arguing about who is the best.

A 14-year-old girl led police on a 19km pursuit through Tauranga last night, police say.

A man who was found drunk in open water after clinging to an overturned dinghy near Tauranga harbour for six hours risked his life and the lives of others, police say.

A woman reportedly received abrasions to her limbs after exiting a moving vehicle in Tauranga yesterday afternoon.

A Tauranga man found guilty at trial of robbing two French hitchhikers in 2012 has been jailed for four years nine months - but maintains he's innocent.

A 9-year-old Papamoa girl who dragged a young boy from the surf has shrugged off her hero status and says she was just doing what she has been trained to do.

A tornado has blown through a popular beach resort outside Tauranga this morning, causing damage to house roofs.

Tauranga Police have raided the Filthy Few Motorcycle Club's property in Birch Ave, Tauranga, following ahome invasion in Whakamarama in which two people received serious injuries.

A house and part of a school remain cordoned off in Tauranga this morning, as police investigate a suspicious death.

A mum is demanding answers after her 3-year-old son escaped from his kindergarten unnoticed by staff and walked alone across a busy Tauranga road.