Stories by Peter de Graaf

A mum living in a cold, mouldy sleepout with two kids says moving into the first of a kind housing will be life-changing for her whānau.

Residents on Moturoa, in Ipipiri, have been forced to relocate the reclusive birds after their population swelled into the hundreds.

Two men were originally missing, but the body of one of them was found just days into the search.

Barrier Air has announced it plans up to four return flights a day between Auckland and Kerikeri.

The only passenger to see the wave before it hit the boat said it was so big "I had to look up to see it", and estimated it was 10m high.

A deckhand on the ill-fated fishing boat Enchanter has revealed what happened in the hours after the vessel capsized - and his desperate efforts to save some of the passengers.

Lance Goodhew is on trial for allegedly breaching his duties as skipper of the Enchanter and putting individuals at risk of serious harm or death.

After the devastation wreaked by Cyclone Gabrielle, Kaipara's kumara growers are celebrating a bumper harvest.

An ambitious plan to make Northland the first region in New Zealand to eradicate wild deer is underway near the Bay of Islands. Audio

A kiwi wandered into a sawmill and spent a few hours exploring before hiding under a workbench.

Millennium and Copthorne Hotels is looking at a 110-room hotel in Whangārei as it expands its network.

More than a decade in the making, a blessing will be held Saturday to formally open Kaikohe's indoor sports stadium.

The students from Motatau School will travel to an international aquabotics competition in Washington DC.

A much-loved Northland police officer who died when she was struck by a car has been farewelled with a full police service in Whangārei.

Keith Anthony McEwen was sentenced to preventive detention for the abduction of a Dutch couple on their honeymoon.

New Zealand's newest national mullet champion is a 10-year-old named Ted from Kerikeri.

A proposal to ditch ratepayer funding for the Northland Rescue Helicopter and other emergency services has sparked a record number of submissions to the Northland Regional Council.

The government is being urged to upgrade the "dilapidated" SH1 as soon as possible.

Fluoride is meant to be added to water for Kaitāia and Kerikeri 30 June - but two councillors put forward a motion to delay it for another two years.

The iwi-led drought relief programme is also training workers along the way. Audio

The closure of the Kiwibank counter has left elderly residents without vital services and business owners facing long trips by car to do their banking.

Whangārei's acclaimed, but controversial, Hundertwasser Art Centre could run out of money by October 2025 - which means ratepayers may have to stump up to keep it open. Audio

A Northland school is urging the government to rethink its plans to cut back the free lunches programme, saying the meals have greatly improved student attendance and behaviour. Audio

"We just couldn't keep up", say Northland businesses reporting a bumper Easter weekend.

It's a long way from Motatau to America - but it's a journey a group of kids from this remote Northland valley are determined to make to compete with the best in underwater robotics.