A massive pipi bed in Whangarei harbour is dying and there are fears the change could destabilise the harbour - and Marsden Point itself, Radio NZ reports.

There were emotional scenes on the East Coast north of Gisborne yesterday afternoon as divers located and recovered missing Malaysian man Kuan Loon Loh.

Swimmers are being told to steer clear of the water at popular beaches on the North Shore after water quality tests returned poor results.

A young English tourist is being praised for trying to save a Malaysian man who is believed drowned after jumping off the Tolaga Bay wharf on the East Coast.

An English tourist jumped in the water to try and save a man who jumped off the wharf at Tolaga Bay - but he was swept away by a wave.

Search teams have been deployed into Eastern Fiordland as the search continues for a missing German tourist.

Auckland's Ngati Whatua tribe is closing Okahu Bay beach tomorrow for a tribal event - the first time since it won co-management of the beach in 1991.

A search is under way for a missing German woman in the Manapouri Hope Arm area in Southland.

"I'd say she'd probably only had maximum probably another minute, minute-and-a-half if she hadn't got out," said an officer who helped woman from car.

Two police officers who dragged a 63-year-old woman from her sinking car at an Auckland wharf believe she was about a minute away from drowning.

Drought throughout much of the South Island and dry conditions in parts of the North look set to add urgency to water storage and irrigation schemes.

Twenty-six crew members on board an Australian-flagged fishing boat are trapped by ice in Antarctica, sparking a rescue bid by a New Zealand fishing vessel.

The body of a dead man clutching a lifejacket washed ashore early this morning in the Whangarei Harbour.

A desperate plea by 15 bystanders for passing jetboats to rescue a 30-year-old struggling in the chilly waters of the Hokitika Gorge were ignored by the boaties.

A 70-year-old Auckland man participating in a sailing regatta north of Wellington was wearing a lifejacket that wasn’t inflated when he died.

Mission Bay Reserve is one of Auckland's most popular summer evening spots. So why are the men's loos allowed to get so filthy?

A state-of-the-art $2.5 million vessel is set to make a marked difference in the way water rescues are carried out.

At the moment, there is more water leaving the water treatment plants than there is entering the wastewater treatment plants, because of the dry spell, writes Phoebe Falconer.

Taps ran dry in Martinborough last Friday after water reservoirs ran out and an alarm supposed to alert the council when supply is low, failed to go off.

Summer is hitting full force, with temperatures rising above 27C north of Auckland and farmers bracing for drought.

The name of an Australian woman who died after suffering head injuries in a fall on to rocks has been released.

A shark hooked by a fisherman that "tail-walked" before breaking free may well have been a great white, a passing charter skipper says.