Stories by Tess Brunton

Dunedin ratepayers are shocked by the resignation of deputy mayor Sophie Barker, who says it was untenable to stay in the role. She says the breach of a confidential council meeting last month was the… Audio

Will prayer help the praying mantis? Are bees buzzy, drumming up enough support?

Hu-hu do these beetles think they'll beat? Or have sandflies bitten off more than they can chew?

The Bug of the Year… Video, Audio

The traffic cones are out and barriers are up as Dunedin's Retail Quarter undergoes a face lift.

The George Street revamp was prompted by the need to replace old water, wastewater and stormwater… Video, Audio

Excitement, relief and joy - that's how passengers described the feeling of boarding the first trans Tasman flight out of Auckland to Sydney under the new quarantine free bubble.

While the flight… Video, Audio

Now to remote Fiordland where crews have been working hard to restore the Milford Track against a looming deadline.

The Great Walk was badly damaged when a metre of rain fell in less than three days… Video, Audio

Lake Ōhau residents have begun sifting through the debris of their damaged and destroyed homes in the wake of the devastating fire.

The fire razed much of the village earlier this month, destroying… Video, Audio

A sense of normality has started to return to the lower South Island after a polar blast turned spring into a winter wonderland. While the snow is melting, for some there are still challenges ahead… Audio

It's been a snowy start for the school holidays with flurries down to sea level in parts of the lower South Island. Flights were grounded for most of the day, leaving holiday-goers stranded as biting… Audio

It could take months to fully extinguish a scrub fire in the Mackenzie District, even though it's hiding under a blanket of snow right now. 
The fire has ripped through more than 3000 hectares of… Video, Audio

At least a thousand people have queued of for a Covid test in Queenstown today - after a recent visitor tested positive in South Korea.

WellSouth organised a temporary drive-thru testing site at the… Video, Audio

Repair work on one of the country's most isolated highways - the Milford Road - is ongoing with road crews facing challenging conditions as winter takes hold.

The only road into Milford Sound was… Video, Audio

Fiordland is facing up to 40 percent unemployment with many tourism business saying they're unsure about their future.

This year the region has been hit by severe flooding that cut access to Milford… Video, Audio

Insight - Rural GPs and nurses are thin on the ground and the pressure on those trying to provide life saving emergency help is even more evident over the summer. Tess Brunton explores if they can… Audio

Dunedin's Hanover Hall has been a Baptist church and a rowdy night club, but was reopened today after it was transformed into a new performance space for the city. Video, Audio

The protesters mooed and chanted outside the office of Murray Valentine, who has resource consent to farm up to 5000 dairy cows on his Simons Pass property. Video, Audio