KiwiRail is offering full refunds to Tranz Alpine passengers as it anticipates the fire-hit rail link between Canterbury and the West Coast could be out for at least six weeks.

An English visitor who found Shelley Crooks six weeks after she was reported missing describes the moment the pair met on a West Coast track.

Pike River Mine families have been granted a meeting with PM Bill English, on February 15, as Parliamentary committee considers sealing of mine.

An outdoors survival expert says water and shelter were the keys to staying alive for unexpected and lengthy times in the bush.

A woman has died after being swept out to sea.

"Nobody knows, until it actually happens to you." - Raywynne Richmond's 42-year-old daughter, Kim, has been missing for six months.

A fire burning on the tracks of the Christchurch to Greymouth rail line has brought the TranzAlpine and some freight services to a

Solid Energy has announced the closure of the Spring Creek Mine after failing to find a buyer.

Organisers of the Kathmandu Coast to Coast race have teamed up with a global environment group to ensure the iconic event leaves no trace upon the spectacular South Island countryside it traverses.

An unexploded mortar shell found by children at the historic goldmining town of Waiuta has been deactivated by the army bomb disposal squad.

Police investigating the disappearance of Shelly Crooks, last seen at Punakaiki, are appealing for sightings of a female hitch-hiker and a sedan.

A strong, shallow earthquake has shaken the West Coast early today.

West Coast-born New Zealand reggae-roots band Salmonella Dub has been named as the headline act for the Wildfoods Festival in March.

Police are still "following lines of inquiry" into the disappearance of Shelly Crooks, who was last seen at Punakaiki nearly six weeks ago.

A treasurer of a popular West Coast speedway who stole more than $6000 in club cash has today avoided a jail sentence after repaying

Police today urged West Coast motorists to be patient on the roads, with the earlier Chinese New Year expected to boost self-driving tourist numbers.

Brogan Watt defies doctors to wed childhood sweetheart.

An elderly Buller man who appeared in the Greymouth District Court on a walking frame was yesterday jailed for 12 years on numerous sex offences, including rape.

Two neighbours are in court over loud music one describes as screeching classical-type music and the other as soothing jazz or Dave Dobbyn.

Police have released more information about the movements of a woman who has been missing since December 22.

Police were delivering flyers about missing woman Shelly Crooks today in Punakaiki and nearby Fox River.

A collision between his mountain bike and a tree means West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor won't be clocking up airpoints anytime soon.

A West Coast woman was granted final name suppression after she was convicted yesterday on two counts of forging a document for financial gain, defrauding others of $30,000.

Kiwis have not been treated to the usual warm temperatures that January brings, with the mercury sitting lower than the same time last year.

About 250 people were bused up the hillside to the Strongman Mine site on Saturday for a poignant ceremony to commemorate the tragedy there 50 years ago.

State Highway 73 will reopen to single-lane traffic past the Otira slip tomorrow, but with delays, and the rail line is expected to open on Wednesday.

Man charged with disorderly behaviour after firing Nerf guns in Greymouth McDonald's restaurant.

THE emotion generated by dramatic and traumatic loss of life is a potent force. It can defy logic, it can prompt irrational acts

South Island police are concerned for the wellbeing of two missing people and ask anyone with information to contact them.

More than 200 people gathered this morning for a minute's silence 50 years on from the Strongman Mine disaster.