There was plenty of outrage flying around the nude hacking scandal - but none was as funny as Dame Helen's indignation at not being hacked herself.
"I was rather insulted my phone wasn't hacked, actually," she said in a radio interview.
"I kept desperately looking at the list of people whose phones were hacked, hoping to see my name."
#2 Deborah Hill Cone: It wasn't just depression that claimed Charlotte
Herald columnist Deborah Hill Cone unleashed a bitter storm of debate when she wrote this opinion piece in the week following Charlotte Dawson's death. The following week, she apologised and explained where she had been coming from when she penned the piece.
#3 Miley's low rent NZ show
It was billed as pop's most controversial show but Miley Cyrus failed to bring any fireworks (both literal and figurative) to her Auckland show at Vector Arena. Instead, it was cheap, tacky and ultimately quite boring.
#4 Teen loses finger at rave but keeps on dancing
Now we get to one of the stranger tales in this list - the story of a 16-year-old party-goer who lost his pinky finger at an illegal rave but kept on dancing because "the bass was hard".
The raver kept dancing for another half hour before his friend took him to the paramedics.
"My mentality was, 'I've only been here for an hour, I've paid £10 for this night, I've lost my little finger - am I seriously going to go? Nah, I'm going to skank until I can't skank any more'." Seriously.
#5 The Block: Generous winners share spoils
Block fever swept the nation last month as more than 800,000 viewers tuned in to see the live auction final. We knew the houses would sell for a ridiculous amount of money.
But no one could have guessed that winners Alex and Corban would gift $30,000 of their winnings to fellow competitors Ben and Quinn.
#6 3D artist gives beach a new dimension
Yet further proof that it's not always big names and big stories that capture readers' attention. This story about a group of local artists creating stunning 3D images on Mt Maunganui beach became a viral sensation.
#7 Robin Williams found dead, aged 63
News of Robin Williams' death spread swiftly and sharply in August this year, shocking millions of fans who had grown up watching the funny man. Tributes were quick to flow, as were the dozens of follow up stories about what exactly happened and why. But this original story announcing the stars death spread the furthest and the fastest.
#8 Eminem sues National party
The election dominated news headlines this year but none captured social media's imagination quite like this story. Rap star Eminem filed legal papers with the High Court in Wellington, seeking damages for copyright infringement after National allegedly ripped off his hit song Lose Yourself for their campaign ad.
#9 TV reporter quits mid-broadcast
Sure, we've all thought it - but this news reporter actually did it, quitting her job live on air, saying "F*** it, I quit". It turns out Ms Greene was the owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club and decided her time and energy would be better spent fighting to legalise marijuana.
#10 Miley Cyrus loved the NZ weed
Turns out Miley's social media stock is higher than most celebs - becoming the only star to feature twice on our list. This story came a few days after her shonky Auckland show, when it was revealed Miley had partaken in some of Aotearoa's finest greenery - and she thought it was dope (pun fully intended).
- nzherald.co.nz
