A Cook Island father-of-three who hailed from an island renown for fishing has been named by family as one of the victims of Saturday's water tragedy.

There's a chill in the air in Kaipara, strong winds whipping the flag lowered to half mast into a frenzy on the front lawn.

Those are words a heartbroken wife has posted on social media after learning her husband was one of the seven men who died in the Kaipara charter boat tragedy.

Naked, with two lifejackets pinned under each arm, Iripa Iripa crawled up Muriwai Beach.

A survivor of the Kaipara Harbour disaster was too big for the lifejackets, and desperately clung to the flotation devices while he swam to shore badly injured.

Bill McNatty, 68, was familiar with the water, worked hard to pay off his boat and spent a good chunk of the past three years taking people out fishing.

The search for the last victim of the Kaipara charter boat tragedy is under way this morning.

Tongan cousins Alipate "Pate" Manumu'a and Sunia "Junior" Ungo'unga died in the charter boat tragedy.

Investigators will head to the Kaipara Harbour today in a bid to find out what caused yesterday's fishing charter tragedy.

Truckies were among members of the public who provided information on the movements of a man who allegedly broke into seven businesses

A high-school student's death in a car crash has pulled the five survivors in his school-based enterprise "tighter" together. Jamie

Mangawhai ratepayers have secured a partial victory in the High Court which ruled the Northland Regional Council rates for Kaipara

Councils around the North Island are assuring residents of the safety of their water supplies following a gastro outbreak in Hawke's Bay.

Northland is getting its first fixed speed camera. This month, a camera will be installed on State Highway 1, just south of Kaiwaka

A woman's house was burgled and a few days later she saw a teenage stranger wearing her clothes.

Suspicious behaviour at a coastal holiday home has led to the discovery of a methamphetamine lab in Northland.

Four plumes of smoke at South Head in Kaipara Harbour signalled the Royal New Zealand Air Force's six-monthly live bomb drop.

The Northland ringleader of the operation that produced the largest amount of methamphetamine ever cooked in New Zealand has pleaded guilty to a raft of charges.

From Pahi to Shelly Beach, cruising by boat was a perfect family day-trip, writes Sarah Ell.

Topping the tables for youth suicide rates is not something any community would want to claim.

In a covert exercise by police and the Northland District Health Board, minors attempted to buy booze at four bars or pubs, two of which served them.

Chase the sun north to a proud town where Elisabeth Easther finds a warm welcome and a fascinating history.

Maungaturoto, Paparoa, Pahi, Tinopai, Matakohe, Ruawai and Tokatoka are a hop, skip and a jump from each other, and Elisabeth Easther found plenty in these tiny towns to delight.

Eleven great white sharks have been spotted at a single site in the Kaipara Harbour - the largest concentration of the species yet seen in the upper North Island.

They call it Magical Mangawhai, and with its beautiful beach, great food and proximity to Auckland we can see why.

It's a marine ecological gem on the doorstep of our biggest city and it's not the Hauraki Gulf.