Pleasure and a touch of pain intertwine for Greg Bowker on a four-day cycle trip in the South Island.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority will investigate the death of a 22-year-old man after a brief police chase in Christchurch this morning.

Heavy rain and gales are expected to lash the main islands from tonight, with the MetService warning of one of the "bigger weather events" for some time.

Rugged up and in sturdy shoes, with a rucksack full of clothes, shampoo and cash, Jeanette Mary Alder was going "as far as she could go".

The Health and Disability Commissioner has suggested that access to publicly-funded health services depends on where patients live.

Simon Power orders a law review after three men successfully used a "greater good" defence to justify extensively damaging the Waihopai spybase.

A girl was pinned under a quad bike with her dying mother after the bike stalled on a steep track, rolled and plummeted 7m into a creek bed.

Three activists are welcoming news the Crown may try to sue them for $1.1 million, despite the saboteurs having around $1000 between them.

A man in his 40s has been charged with two counts of murder and will appear in the Greymouth District Court tomorrow.