School says ban will stay until there is certainty around new Health and Safety at Work Act comes into force.

A Featherston teenager has pleaded guilty to attempting to set fire to the town's petrol station.

The skies above Carterton were a riot of colour as participants from New Zealand and around the world took to the air for the 2016 Wairarapa Balloon Festival, which wrapped up on Monday.

A Fire Service spokeswoman said the blaze broke out just before 11pm at the Murdoch James Estate Winery in a building that housed tractors.

Martinborough offers 25 wineries, good tucker and a buzzy nightlife.

A roadtrip to Palliser Bay can take a traveller's breath away, writes Richard Moore.

Drivers travelling along a rural Wairarapa road could be forgiven for imagining the worst when they came across a cottage perched on the side of a bridge.

Wairarapa farmer Bill Hallett is taking a World War I commemorative march so seriously he's shaved off his distinctive, 35-year-old beard.

Shandelle Battersby checks in to a charming hotel in the Wairarapa's wine district.

Two cars have collided at a Wairarapa intersection today, closing the road.

This Wairarapa town isn't just for wine lovers and weekending Wellingtonians.

A Wairarapa man found guilty of repeatedly raping a teenager and abducting her to the countryside has had his appeal against his conviction dismissed.

Wellington and Northland will not be reorganised into "super cities" but Hawkes Bay will follow in Auckland's footsteps.

While there was an appetite for a lower North Island super city, the Wairarapa should not be included within it, Wellington's Mayor Celia Wade-Brown told the Local Government Commission today.

Whareama couple Sally Duckworth and Alisdair Ross have conquered the world of marmalade, taking two gold medals at the World Marmalade Championships in Cumbria, United Kingdom, on Saturday.

A team of rural firefighters spent 20 hours battling strong winds, dry, inhospitable terrain and a blaze which took out 10ha of Wairarapa scrub, bush and farmland yesterday.

As hot, dry weather threatens to create a drought, farmers are preparing for the worst.

Elisabeth Easther finds the perfect place to escape the crowds.

As temperatures soar above 30C across parts of the country, so has demand for firefighters as tinder-dry conditions create the perfect environment for forest and scrub fires.

Fingers crossed, you will be blessed with a refreshing sea breeze as you tackle these top walks.

Three-wheel pedal power can lead to a perfect pinot noir, writes Paul Rush.

The Air Force says crew on a new helicopter rescued a missing tramper on the chopper's debut mission.

Police and volunteer search and rescue teams are looking for a missing 21 year-old tramper.

A small earthquake shook the lower North Island this morning.

A young man who was behind the wheel of a ute that hit a commuter train in Wairarapa, killing his 15-year-old girlfriend, has been sentenced to 200 hours' community service.

In the ultimate DIY job, Carterton man Paul Furkert managed to splint his own leg that broke when his Land Rover flipped on an isolated farm track.