A man who rushed to a fatal crash last night recounted the horror that awaited him after a car plunged into a flooded river.

One person has died and three others were left clinging to a car roof after the vehicle ended up in a river.

Were the quakes that struck Wairarapa today and Christchurch last night caused by the weather or planets ... or neither?

Police and family searchers have found two young runaways near a lake several kilometres from their Masterton home after the pair went missing two nights ago.

Volunteers discovered the largely intact skeleton while cataloguing items at the old hospital in the museum grounds last week.

School says ban will stay until there is certainty around new Health and Safety at Work Act comes into force.

A Featherston teenager has pleaded guilty to attempting to set fire to the town's petrol station.

The skies above Carterton were a riot of colour as participants from New Zealand and around the world took to the air for the 2016 Wairarapa Balloon Festival, which wrapped up on Monday.

A roadtrip to Palliser Bay can take a traveller's breath away, writes Richard Moore.

Drivers travelling along a rural Wairarapa road could be forgiven for imagining the worst when they came across a cottage perched on the side of a bridge.

Wairarapa farmer Bill Hallett is taking a World War I commemorative march so seriously he's shaved off his distinctive, 35-year-old beard.

A whitebaiter who died when he was swept out to sea at a river mouth in Wairarapa yesterday was wearing a lifejacket.

A yacht which came into trouble in seas outside Wellington this morning is being towed into Wellington Harbour.

Shandelle Battersby checks in to a charming hotel in the Wairarapa's wine district.

Two cars have collided at a Wairarapa intersection today, closing the road.

This Wairarapa town isn't just for wine lovers and weekending Wellingtonians.

A Wairarapa man found guilty of repeatedly raping a teenager and abducting her to the countryside has had his appeal against his conviction dismissed.

Whareama couple Sally Duckworth and Alisdair Ross have conquered the world of marmalade, taking two gold medals at the World Marmalade Championships in Cumbria, United Kingdom, on Saturday.

A team of rural firefighters spent 20 hours battling strong winds, dry, inhospitable terrain and a blaze which took out 10ha of Wairarapa scrub, bush and farmland yesterday.

As hot, dry weather threatens to create a drought, farmers are preparing for the worst.

Elisabeth Easther finds the perfect place to escape the crowds.

As temperatures soar above 30C across parts of the country, so has demand for firefighters as tinder-dry conditions create the perfect environment for forest and scrub fires.

Fingers crossed, you will be blessed with a refreshing sea breeze as you tackle these top walks.

Three-wheel pedal power can lead to a perfect pinot noir, writes Paul Rush.