The stereotype of the couch-burning student is becoming a thing of the past as University of Otago's tough stance on fire-lighting pays dividends.

Hollywood leading ladies Reese Witherspoon is lapping up the luxury of Queenstown, and taking to social media to brag about her idyllic Kiwi trip.

Crews have managed to contain a big blaze at high country farm Otematata Station in North Otago.

The crash occurred near Glenavy in South Canterbury.

New Zealand is getting a lot of love from visiting celebrities, with Oprah Winfrey the latest to share stunning photos of our country.

Daily and weekly doses effective, but not monthly.

Canadian cyclist Bernard Gendron surprised doctors in Dunedin yesterday by talking after wakig up from induced coma.

Farmers in Central Otago hope a new method of biological control will give them some respite from the rabbit problem.

Tropical downpours are drenching the north of the North Island as thunderstorms loom over Northland, Auckland and Waikato.

The owner of the Cadbury factory in Dunedin has announced a proposal to end operations in 2018, with 350 people facing redundancies.

Bernard Gendron remains in an induced coma in Dunedin Hospital, but his family, who have arrived from Canada, have seen encouraging signs.

A Cromwell man has been jailed 15 months for the death of his friend who fell from a quad bike last September.

Inexperience and errors in judgement caused the death of 12-year-old Jack Martin after a boating accident on the Blue Lake at St Bathans

Police are calling for witnesses to a vicious assault at Dunedin International Airport early last Friday morning.

Spending 48 hours in a scenic town with a head cold isn't so bad, Susan Strongman reports.

A campervan driver will appear in court next week accused of causing a severe brain injury to a Canadian tourist.

Police are investigating the ''moronic'' actions of a person who tied fishing line at head height across a Queenstown track.

New Zealand is now experiencing the worst of the fire season, a top officer says, with a dangerous combination of high temperatures and low relative humidity creating tinder-dry conditions across eastern hot-spots.

A woman who survived a crash into Lake Wakatipu was initially trapped in her vehicle, police say.

One person had died and three are seriously injured after a crash at Arrow Junction near the Crown Range turnoff.

Heavy rain and hail hit Dunedin this afternoon, causing the evacuation of the public library and flooding to some buildings.

NASA is heading back to Wanaka to launch its super balloons which orbit the globe performing scientific monitoring.

NASA has confirmed it will return to Wanaka to launch it's super-pressure balloon which will see the 18.8 million cubic foot balloon

A home in Luggate was well ablaze by the time firefighters arrived at the property.

Prominent Kiwis have banded together to demand an independent inquiry into the claims of sexual and physical abuse of children in state care.

Weary passengers forced to wait even longer after plane to Auckland is delayed yet again.

An Otago prison's been put in lockdown after three staff were assaulted by three inmates.

Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon and talk show queen Oprah Winfrey are headed to New Zealand.

A woman was injured after the car she was driving hit a parked car and then "burst into the lounge'' of a Dunedin house today.

A cyclist sustained a serious head injury after being hit by a campervan in Dunedin today. A St John spokesman said an ambulance