Northland

The Bay of Islands will be transformed into a sea of sails this weekend as one of the highlights of Northland's boating calendar returns to the waters off Russell.

"I knew that my chances were next to nothing," says 61-year-old Will Fransen of the ordeal. Audio

A search is continuing in the Far North for a diver missing since before Christmas.

Community leaders in the Bay of Islands say they are devastated the new government has cancelled a project designed to improve road safety for children heading to school in Kerikeri.

The cousins, aged 6 and 4, died when a utility terrain vehicle they were on struck a boulder and fell into a waterhole.

The final death of the official holiday period toll - and the first in Northland of 2024 - was a baby boy who had only recently turned six months old.

Beachgoers are being warned not to swim or collect shellfish.

A rāhui is in place where two boys aged four and six died in an accident that has plunged whānau on both sides of the Tasman into unimaginable grief.

The organiser of a rain-drenched Northland music festival says the event will be back at the end of the year but with lessons learned from this summer's three-day mud bath.

The quadbike crash that left four hospitalised and two missing is "really tragic", the Far North Mayor says, with the dive squad now called in to help with the search.

State Highway 1 has reopened after being blocked this afternoon north of Kaitāia after a milk delivery truck rolled, while people have died in crashes near Russell, and in Buller District.

Traffic on State Highway 1 north of Auckland is now flowing smoothly after motorists were this afternoon again slowed to a crawl near Wellsford for a few hours.

Friends and whānau of the missing man are continuing to scour the shoreline near Ahipara in the Far North, six days after he was last seen.

Department of Conservation campgrounds around Northland are packed as holidaymakers count down to the New Year in some of the region's most scenic spots.

A new community-led pilot focused on improving climate change adaptation and resilience in Northland's Oakura district has launched.

Passengers on one highway were getting out and walking amid queues and accidents around the country.

The speed limit on Te Oneroa-a-Tōhe Ninety Mile Beach has plummeted from 100kmph to down to 30kmph at some points.

Emergency services are carrying out a search in the Ahipara area for a diver who was reported missing on Saturday afternoon.