A swimming coach who drowned while stand-up paddleboarding for the first time wasn't able to untie the safety leash attached to her ankle.

Several heavy downpours over the past month have helped to fill hydro lakes close to their brim.

Dame Lynda Topp joins a host of new names seeking a seat on the Ashburton District Council, which is set for a changing of the guard with four current councillors not standing for re-election.

Police have seized $34,000 in cash, drugs and firearms as part of the Operation Cobalt inquiry.

The body located at Cape Foulwind on the West Coast has been identified as missing man Mikhail Buchanan.

Auckland businessman Leo Molloy has spoken to media after pulling out of the Auckland mayoralty race when polls suggested he would not win the election. Watch it here.

Eight of the dolphins which had been stranded on Waiheke Island are heading back out to sea.

Auckland police have confirmed that human remains have been found at a house in Clendon Park and efforts are under way to identify them.

There are 4126 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today, the Ministry of Health says.

Three grocery store items saw significant price increases over the past year, contributing to an overall annual food price rise.

Witnesses are still being sought to a stabbing in the capital that left a man with serious injuries.

The intersection of Trafalgar Street and Halifax Street is now open.

Weather has prevented the recovery of the body of a West Coast pilot who crashed in the Southern Alps this month.

One person has been arrested after police found a loaded rifle, drugs and cash in his car.

Molloy says polls suggest he couldn't win the Auckland mayoralty race and withdrawing is the right thing to do.

It has been six years years since Sarah travelled overseas, now Air New Zealand's announcement to cut flights has put her plans in doubt.

As a coroner releases his findings into the 2015 Fox Glacier helicopter crash, a brother of one of the seven victims says he hopes some positive change finally comes from the tragedy.

The P&O Pacific Explorer has docked in at Queens Wharf in Auckland from Sydney, the first ship here in nearly two and a half years.