Heather Tyler finds a small town making the most of some fabulous vineyards.

Family, neighbours and firefighters fought in vain to save the life of a Masterton man they dragged near death from a blaze that gutted his sleepout late last night.

The severe earthquake which rocked NZ this afternoon sent workers in Wellington running into the streets as the ground shook and buildings swayed from side to side.

Marlborough and Wellington residents tell their stories of today's earthquake and its aftermath.

A series of aftershocks have rumbled across central New Zealand this morning, sparked by a strong magnitude 4.9 jolt near Seddon, Marlborough shortly before 1am.

A shallow 4.2 magnitude earthquake has been detected near East Cape, after a strong aftershock near Wellington this morning.

Residents have cleared out of a central Wellington street while urgent work is carried out on a quake-damaged carpark lift which could come crashing down in an aftershock.

A brazen thief distracted staff and stole money from a young Greytown boy's fundraiser for his sick grandfather.

A mother and daughter have been winched to safety from a rocky ledge on Wairarapa's remote south coast.

A judge has commended a grieving woman and the man responsible for her partner's death during an emotional court hearing following a fatal road accident.

A Masterton couple helped to raise more than $5000 for the Grace Yeats Trust after they read a newspaper article about the Grace's Oil of Gratitude fundraising initiative last December.

A Wairarapa man got more than he bargained for when he took his two dogs walking at Lake Domain.

Farms, homes and roads would be totally submerged in a massive dam lake under proposed irrigation plans for Wairarapa.

A pine forest fire in South Wairarapa may have destroyed trees worth at least $1 million. The blaze at Pahaoa Rd, east of Martinborough, had engulfed at least 100ha by yesterday afternoon.

Six helicopters with monsoon buckets and seven ground firecrews battled a rapidly moving pine forest fire on Pahaoa Rd, east of Martinborough, yesterday that had engulfed 30 hectares by midday and was still burning.

Wearing a helmet may have saved the life of a climber who fell 140m on a rocky peak near Mt Awful, in the Mt Aspiring National Park, yesterday.

A climber suffered head injuries when he fell about 100m and had to helicoptered to safety from Mt Awful in Mt Aspiring National Park this morning.

Viva wine editor Jo Burzynska traverses plains, valleys and rivers on a pinot noir safari in Marlborough.