Work to stabilise the Pike River coal mine has been delayed a second time by dangerous gas readings.

From plains to peaks to rainforest, the TranzAlpine offers a taster of the striking south.

Police say while they are "highly suspicious" a figure seen in footage taken from within the Pike River mine is a body, it is impossible to confirm without months of work.

A West Coast man is on trial for murdering his elderly neighbour and the man's intellectually handicapped grandson.

A new venture in Denniston allows visitors to step back 100 years to experience life in the coal mines, complete with ghostly visions and echoes of another era, writes Jim Eagles.

The police-led rescue and recovery operation launched in the wake of the Pike River tragedy has cost nearly $11 million, according to figures in a detailed breakdown released this afternoon.

The centre will be named the West Coast Memorial Events Centre in memory of the Pike River and other mine disaster victims.

Families of the Pike River miners have rejected a claim that police leaked previously unseen CCTV footage of the disaster to TVNZ.

In a secret spot, restricted to visitors, Jim Eagles marvels at the elegant, isolated beauty of NZ's only flock of endangered white heron.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Pike River disaster will need more than 15 weeks to examine key issues, a families' spokesman says.

Prince William has met families of the victims of the Pike River Coal mine disaster in Greymouth tonight.

As the West Coast prepares for the visit of Prince William today, Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn reflects on the four tough months since the Pike River tragedy.

The inaction of Pike River mine receivers to venture into the mine has victims' families fearing the worst, says the father of one of the lost miners

Charlotte Randall is an award-winning New Zealand author whose novels reflect someone utterly in love with the potential of language.