I am starting to think that in this case we do need a national policy on freedom camping, so campers and locals know exactly what the rules are.

They're almost as rare as hen's teeth, but Jim Eagles finally lands his shark tooth in the Chathams.

Tawharanui a Garden of Eden for rare natives.

Liz Light finds Tutukaka living up to the high expectations of it.

Drive down SH39 from Ngaruawahia to Otorohanga and you'll pass a prominent sign pointing to a small, relatively unknown coastal settlement called Kawhia.

It's been 12 years, but New Zealand is no longer 100 per cent Pure.

Nzherald.co.nz is celebrating the best things about New Zealand. Today opera singer Simon O’Neill shares his favourite beaches. What do you think?

With a tent and an airbed packed into his Mercedes-Benz, Jurgen Karl Ahrens made the New Zealand outdoors his home.

When rhododendron and world music festivals are the main drawcards to Taranaki, you could be forgiven for thinking the region has traded its wild west coast image for an altogether more hippy vibe.

A still summer night seems like the perfect time to just lie on your back gazing at the stars.

It's hard to resist comparisons to the movies when you're on a ship like the Sore Larsen, writes Bronwyn Sell.

Who are we really fighting for access to our beaches? Herald journalist Yvonne Tahana and photographer Richard Robinson took to the road to find out...

James Russell rounds up a few water sports you may want to get your teeth into this summer...

Trams are expected to run on Auckland's waterfront by August in an $8m project which saw the first modest section of tracks laid this week.

What is your favourite New Zealand beach and why? Has it changed much over the years you have been visiting? Send us Your Views.

In the 1950s, high-profile American surfers and their camera crews broadened their search for the perfect wave beyond their home beaches.

North Head tunnels, Devonport
Takarunga Rd, Cheltenham

In the development heyday of the 1950s, holiday homes shot up on narrow, sandy fingers of land around New Zealand's coastline.

At New Zealand's most famous surf beach - and the birthplace of modern surfing - an environmental battle is being fought on several fronts.

While you're slumming it this summer, others are living it up.

Travellers describe the best and worst of their time in New Zealand.

Experiencing Pakiri Beach on horseback is an ideal way to spend a summer's day.

A Northland tour destination brings back fond memories for one of the members of Fat Freddy's Drop.

In Whakatane, you feel adventure is just around the corner. It's the frontier to discovery whether you're on wheels, on foot or on water.

It's true that AJ Hackett rules the air-waves when it comes to bungy jumps in New Zealand, with four locations.

CNN has named NZ among the top nine destinations for next year - at number 2 behind New York.