A daredevil jetski rider has a blood clot on the brain after his signature backflip went disastrously wrong as he was thrilling a big crowd at the Tauranga Boat Expo.

Tauranga combines art and nature's ingenuity in a festival that enthrals Donna McIntyre.

Quick thinking, adrenaline and a childhood spent swimming swollen rivers proved useful for Deane O'Connor when he jumped into icy water to save a man.

One person is dead after a car and Tauranga's mobile library bus crashed in Welcome Bay, as emergency services try to free another man still trapped.

The Hairy Maclary sculpture project planned for Tauranga's redeveloped waterfront is closing in on its fundraising target.

Tracks at Mount Maunganui have been re-opened as police wind down a search operation for two missing people, including five-year-old Jack Dixon.

A pizza delivery man was robbed at gunpoint in Tauranga last night.

The two women who became lost in the Kaimai Ranges have been found, unhurt and in good spirits.

A Tauranga security guard who tried to hire a hitman to kill his parents has been sentenced to 11 months' home detention.

Wayne Redman clung to the upturned hull of his boat for hours in icy-cold water fearing he might not survive.

Tauranga has been put on the celebrity-pooch map after global superstar Lady Gaga bought a month's worth of dog food from a Tauranga company.

Coffee and Weet-Bix were what a fisherman needed after spending four hours in the cold waters of Tauranga Harbour.

A fisherman missing on the Tauranga Harbour since midnight last night has been found after making his way to shore.

A man caught with a slug gun near a Tauranga Work and Income office this morning told police he intended selling it.

Police are seeking to identify a man who arrived at Tauranga Hospital and was able to give only his first name.

Former cop and convicted rapist Brad Shipton has a rare and aggressive form of dementia.

Silvio Kors' first concern after hearing a loud bang and seeing his windscreen crack while driving was that he'd hit someone.

Video footage of what appears to be a man "car surfing" off the back of a moving car is being slammed by road safety authorities as "incredibly dangerous" and "stupid".

'I'm not saying it'll be a skip in the tulips - but it can be done.' A city councillor in Tauranga believes he won't have to quit if he gets into Parliament at the election.

A 7-year-old boy was flown to Auckland's Starship Hospital in a serious condition last night after being hit by a car in Tauranga's Welcome Bay.

A 7-year-old boy hit by a car in Welcome Bay last night remains in a critical condition at Auckland's Starship hospital this morning.

Tauranga's coroner says "significant and serious failures" in the health care provided at Tauranga Hospital to two patients contributed to their premature deaths.

Helicopter monsoon buckets were yesterday used to clear loose material from above two highways - one of which was closed by an early morning rockfall.

Shipping giant Maersk Line, and Fonterra-backed logistics company Kotahi have signed 10-year contracts aimed at supporting the port's plan to deepen its channel by 2016.

The NZ Transport Agency is using a helicopter carrying a monsoon bucket to wash away debris on the side of cliffs that are threatening to crumble and cause slips on State Highway 36 between Tauranga and Rotorua.

Small town New Zealand does wonderful and whacky to keep up our winter spirits.