The former US vice presidential candidate posts New Year's message using images of son Trig standing on family dog.

The Diary has had a cracker year breaking some of the biggest scoops and scandals of 2014.

Back to the Future II thought 2015 would be a futuristic land of flying cars and hovercrafts. As the New Year dawns, which of the film's predictions were hits - and misses?

John Roughan: My daughter wants to know what it is like to grow up with red hair. Her baby son arrived seven months ago with a shock of flaming red frizz.

Larry Ogden has a full and fascinating story behind the motorbikes parked in single car spaces.

All technology is doomed to become redundant at some point, but the speed at which obsolescence is conferred upon our gadgets is increasing.

Politician Nanaia Mahuta carries a great deal of expectation on her shoulders - and her back as well as her feet.

Cricketer-turned-politician believed to have tied the knot with divorced mother-of-three - but his family do not approve.

This year in books and music, on stage and social media, women have put feminism top of the cultural agenda, says Alice Vincent.

With 2015 just hours away there are plenty of options for those still undecided on how to celebrate the New Year.

Speculation is rife that Sally Ridge has married her partner Warren Fenning in a small family ceremony at a Tauranga boutique B&B owned by Ridge's mum.

People generally take a jaundiced view of politicians being recognised in the New Year Honours.

Nick Ferrier's residence was a good candidate to feature on My House, My Castle - not least because of this castle's three turrets.

Looking back on 2014 New Zealand's historians will see an unremarkable election. The economy was booming, the Government stable, the Prime Minister popular and opinion polls giving his party every prospect of a comfortable re-election.

Stalwart Labour MP Trevor Mallard married journalist Jane Clifton in an intimate and sunny ceremony in Wellington yesterday.

Tattoo you: Well known Kiwis show off their ink. Pua Magasiva and KJ Apa, Shortland St stars. Their on-screen characters on Shortland Street do not have much to do with each other.

It has long been claimed that names can influence your chances of doing well in life and now it seems that monikers can impact on behaviour at school as well.

Sports fans know about the phenomenal exploits of Brendon McCullum, Lydia Ko and the All Blacks this year. Michael Burgess looks back at 10 other feel-good sports stories that captured the imagination in 2014.

I had a spring in my step all throughout 2014 as the writer of these so-called secret diaries, with their made-up chronicles of the most wretched newsmaker of the week.

Cadbury Roses are a Kiwi staple at Christmas - but what are you really getting when you open the box? Wendyl Nissen puts the chocs to the test.

The Inspector Morse stories taught me that men are intelligent and sensitive and don't just want to hump everything that breathes.

2014 served up more than its fair share of major entertainment stories. From tragic deaths to celebrity scandals, the entertainment industry often dominated the headlines.

British actress Helena Bonham Carter and Alice in Wonderland director Tim Burton have separated after 13 years together.

Chow Chow dogs, painted and dyed to look like panda bears, have been seized from an Italian circus.

It's Christmas Eve and as Kiwis prepare to open their presents and head to the beach, The Diary tracks how celebs are spending the Christmas holiday.

There's an old maxim in poker - "If you don't know who's getting screwed, get up and walk away from the table because it is you."

Bill Gates participated in the annual Reddit Secret Santa gift exchange and gifted the lucky recipient a replica Loki helmet from Marvel's Thor franchise.

The Marsden Cross is known to most of us only as a photograph. It is on a remote northern shore in the Bay of Islands, not as accessible as Waitangi or Russell.