NIWA scientists are en route to Antarctica where they will undertake one of the few full scientific projects on the continent since the global outbreak of Covid-19.

Aucklanders could see their water bills more than double in a decade after Watercare approved rates increases to help plug a fiscal hole punched by the pandemic and the region's long-lasting drought.

Pauanui Beach has reopened following up to three shark sightings this afternoon.

Hundreds of New Year festival goers are reporting painful and serious side effects after taking a drug they thought was MDMA.

Residents call for improved safety measures

Holidaymakers visiting the Far North are being urged to conserve water - while the district's supply is stretched.

Police are urging Dunedin residents to be wary of a telephone scammer who managed to swindle $15,000 out of a 69-year-old local woman.

A shark expert is calling on beachgoers to be more cautious following a suspected shark attack at Waihī beach.

Public facilities in Gisborne have been hit by a spate of vandalism and theft over the holiday period.

More beaches are now suitable for swimming in Auckland after dozens were deemed unsafe earlier this week.

The Environment Minister says a $36 million funding round to clean up and protect waterways, will create more than 400 jobs.

The stench of rotting flesh will once again draw hordes of curious onlookers to the Dunedin Botanic Garden.

A little blue penguin is back in the wild after recovering from serious injuries.

Police have named the young woman who died after a suspected shark attack at Waihī Beach.

Unusually warm waters and stable seas are creating prime conditions for stunning displays of bioluminescence along Auckland's coast.

Greymouth police are appealing for information about several suspicious fires over the New Year holiday period.

A coroner says she is dumbstruck that a man's friends did little to help, when they found him collapsed in a pool of vomit after smoking synthetic cannabis.

More than 150 undersized pāua and nearly 3000 cockles that were taken illegally were returned to the sea after operations by fisheries officers and police.