To mark the Herald relaunch we're taking an in-depth, week-long look at what it means to be Kiwi. Today - why we choose NZ over anywhere else on the globe.

Joanna Mathers puts herself back in the saddle to see the sights of an ancient Maori settlement.

The steady life in sales and prices started in the central Auckland suburbs over a year ago and has now spread across the new supercity. But as Bruce Morris reports, it's still tough going out in the provinces.

A trip to Whitianga is an adventure with wheels like these, writes Estelle Sarney.

In Maungatautari, Elisabeth Easther is propositioned by a rare bird.

As valuable to marine life as it is prized by humans, the Hauraki Gulf is in decline. Though solutions seem as elusive as the gulf's fish stocks, a groundswell is building for collaboration.

The mother of a Spring Hill prison guard who was killed by an inmate says she's not bitter about her son's death, despite a Coroner's criticism of Corrections.

Pirongia has a rich history but as Dionne Christian discovers, on multiple trips, it is a present-day delight too.

Eruption activity has subsided but another eruption could occur at any time with little or no warning, according to Civil Defence. Read the latest.