A truckie tried to leap from his vehicle moments before it was hit by a train in Waikato, an inquest has been told.

A Waitomo caving experience will leave your mind blown, writes Alex Robertson.

Children may have been put at risk when they were transported in a car with a sawn-off shotgun concealed under a mat, police say.

Detour through a town you always pass but never stop to visit, writes Elisabeth Easther.

A shelter of the steppes finds a place under the nikau, writes Monique Balvert-O'Connor.

Elisabeth Easther followed her heart to Maungatautari in the hope that Sirocco, her kakapo friend, would recall their fleeting fling.

A tiny rural Waikato town wants to establish itself as the "North Island's premier food technology hub".

National's Hamilton West MP Tim Macindoe has been referred to police along with Free FM in Hamilton for allegedly airing an election advertisement outside the proper period.

When Dame Susan Devoy was appointed Race Relations Commissioner last year, the intelligentsia sniffed at the choice of a squash champion.

A 21-year-old Hamilton woman has serious injuries after her car left the road and crashed down a slope about 100m long in Waitomo this afternoon.

Danielle Wright spends a rainy day in Waikato, in the company of the Incas' silent brothers — the llamas.

A Dutch couple coming to New Zealand to visit their Taupo-based daughter on a "trip of a lifetime" were among those killed on MH17.

A master surfboard maker has sold a handcrafted board to a New Zealand buyer for a staggering $1.5 million.

The Waikato District Health Board has backed its incoming chief executive, despite concerns about his time overseeing a Canadian health authority.

The new boss of Waikato's DHB was in charge of one of the worst-performing Canadian health authorities - and Labour has questioned his appointment.

Cold nights are lit up with fire breathers, tin lanterns and fluorescent faces, finds Catherine Smith.

Head to some of these local gems next time you're visiting the peninsula.

This old mining town is finding a new fortune in the beauty of its forests, writes Elisabeth Easther.

Fergusson, the 10kg cat, is a regular sight in the corridors of Waikato Hospital, cheering up patients and posing for photographs as he goes.