Te Arawa Lakes Trust and local councils are banding together in the battle against invasive gold clams.
The trust is worried about the lakes in its area and the boaties coming to use them.
A hui at Lake Ōkāreka has resolved to stand up volunteers at boat ramps at several lakes to guide and greet visitors and help make sure boaties are playing their part.
The volunteers will not, the trust says, be restricting access.
“We’re not saying saying to anybody, look, you can’t come onto the lakes,” Te Arawa Lakes Trust chairperson said.
He said volunteers would help ask if boats were clean and if they had been on the Waikato River.
That’s where there is now a large stretch of the clams, after they were first found in May 2023 at Lake Karāpiro.
They have since been found elsewhere – in November at Lake Rotomanu in New Plymouth, which was then drained.
Adam Hartland has written for The Conversation about why the clams pose such a danger.
It’s all hugely concerning for Te Arawa Lakes Trust which oversees 14 lakes in the Rotorua area.
“Given the significant number of boats that come into our area we have decided to be proactive to prevent any carriage of this invasive species into our lakes, because the impact is quite significant,” Haumaha said.
Lake Ōkāreka, where the hui was held, has a number of boats taking to it for wakeboarding, water-skiing and other recreation activities, he said.
The meeting was between the Trust, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Rotorua Lakes Council with government minister Todd McClay also in attendance.
The councils will be pitching in, Haumaha said.
“So we decided that, you know, this is about a community action… this is about the future of our lakes and protection of our waterways.”
On the lake having to be drained in New Plymouth, “God forbid we ever have to do that here in Rotorua,” he said.
Volunteers will be put at boat ramps to tell people of the importance of checking their boats and cleaning and drying them before coming onto the water.
Boaties will also be asked if they have been on Waikato River.
“We’re not saying to anybody, look you can’t come onto the lakes,” he said.
Haumaha said the area’s lakes were pristine and needed to be safeguarded for future generations.
He also urged arriving boaties to be kind to volunteers.
“People have just come out of the woodwork ready to step up, to make sure that they can stand alongside everyone for the protection of our lakes over the Summer period.”
A roster will be drawn up for volunteers.
He said 11 lakes that are used by boaties have been identified, with about 29 boat ramps.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Te Arawa Lakes Trust and local councils are banding together in the battle against invasive gold clams.
The trust is worried about the lakes in its area and the boaties coming to use them.
A hui at Lake Ōkāreka has resolved to stand up volunteers at boat ramps at several lakes to guide and greet visitors and help make sure boaties are playing their part.
The volunteers will not, the trust says, be restricting access.
“We’re not saying saying to anybody, look, you can’t come onto the lakes,” Te Arawa Lakes Trust chairperson said.
He said volunteers would help ask if boats were clean and if they had been on the Waikato River.
That’s where there is now a large stretch of the clams, after they were first found in May 2023 at Lake Karāpiro.
They have since been found elsewhere – in November at Lake Rotomanu in New Plymouth, which was then drained.
Adam Hartland has written for The Conversation about why the clams pose such a danger.
It’s all hugely concerning for Te Arawa Lakes Trust which oversees 14 lakes in the Rotorua area.
“Given the significant number of boats that come into our area we have decided to be proactive to prevent any carriage of this invasive species into our lakes, because the impact is quite significant,” Haumaha said.
Lake Ōkāreka, where the hui was held, has a number of boats taking to it for wakeboarding, water-skiing and other recreation activities, he said.
The meeting was between the Trust, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Rotorua Lakes Council with government minister Todd McClay also in attendance.
The councils will be pitching in, Haumaha said.
“So we decided that, you know, this is about a community action… this is about the future of our lakes and protection of our waterways.”
On the lake having to be drained in New Plymouth, “God forbid we ever have to do that here in Rotorua,” he said.
Volunteers will be put at boat ramps to tell people of the importance of checking their boats and cleaning and drying them before coming onto the water.
Boaties will also be asked if they have been on Waikato River.
“We’re not saying to anybody, look you can’t come onto the lakes,” he said.
Haumaha said the area’s lakes were pristine and needed to be safeguarded for future generations.
He also urged arriving boaties to be kind to volunteers.
“People have just come out of the woodwork ready to step up, to make sure that they can stand alongside everyone for the protection of our lakes over the Summer period.”
A roster will be drawn up for volunteers.
He said 11 lakes that are used by boaties have been identified, with about 29 boat ramps.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Kitchen Things went into receivership mid-year.Google Maps
It’s been another tough year financially for many New Zealand households and businesses.
While some commentators said in 2024 that businesses needed to focus on the mantra “survive til 2025”, for some it was a case of battling to survive through the year, too.
Some high-profile names didn’t make it.
Here are 10 that did not see out the year, in no particular order.
GrabOne was launched in 2010 and offered discounts on goods and services for local businesses. It was sold to Global Marketplace New Zealand by former owner NZME in 2021, for $17.5m.
But marketing expert Bodo Lang, of Massey University, told RNZ that GrabOne’s problem was that it failed to provide value to its target market.
“In other words, its vouchers, which were once upon a time exciting, had lost their appeal.
“A closely related second reason for GrabOne’s liquidation is that it suffered from declining top of mind brand awareness. While GrabOne was on everybody’s mind and in every dinner conversation some years ago, a lack of brand investment meant that the brand was slowly buried amongst advertising by other brands.”
It had already closed its Newmarket branch in 2024 and reduced the inner-city shop to one floor.
The retailer cited increased competition from new shopping malls, continued economic uncertainty and low consumer confidence and spending power as problems that led to the closure.
It also said Queen St foot traffic had decline and parking was more expensive for shoppers.
Fortune Favours
Wellington brewery Fortune Favours announced in August that it would close its Wellington bar by the end of the month.
The company said the cost of living crisis had become too difficult to navigate.
Garage Project took over the site.
NZSale
NZSale closed to New Zealand orders at the end of November. The Australian business, OzSale, is set to close in the new year.
The downtown Auckland shop, which stocked high end brands such as Armani and Burberry, had been open for decades.
It went through a revamp in 2018.
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There were a plethora of bizarre, quirky, and eye popping moments in the world of sport in 2025.Photosport
What happened in the unpredictable world of sport in 2025? Jonty Dine takes a look back.
Whistling Webby
Sick of a lack of accountability for referees, Warriors coach Andrew Webster was not going to tolerate the same from Kiwi journalists, blowing his whistle every time a ‘shit’ question was asked at this memorable press conference.
Reece Walsh drinks toilet water
There was no evidence to support his claim of toilet water being a performance enhancer, but based on Walsh’s performance in the NRL final, who would argue the point?
Marlborough Boys’ cheeky try
Whether they called it innovation, or against the spirit of the game, this audacious MBC try had people across the country talking and certainly would have made Rassie Erasmus proud.
Bunts came in clutch with this crowd pleaser at a Black Ferns farewell at Manurewa Intermediate.
Raiders wrestling goes wrong
A bit of team bonding turned into a battle for alpha status in a Las Vegas hallway as Hudson Young and Morgan Smithies tussled into an elevator, forcing police to be called to deal with what was believed to be a dangerous weapon, but was later revealed as an inflatable baseball bat.
Phone falls out of cricketers pocket
When the screen addiction is very real, Lancashire’s Tom Bailey dropped his phone while running between the wickets during a match against Gloucestershire.
Rohit gets fat-shamed
A sure fire way to alienate yourself from the Indian public and tank re-election odds, politician Shama Mohamed decided to attack the nation’s cricket captain, calling Rohit Sharma “fat for a sportsman” and “unimpressive”.
Boisson gets smell-shamed
British tennis player Harriet Dart was forced to say sorry after commenting that her opponent, France’s Lois Boisson, “smells really bad.”
Serena’s Superbowl crip walk
As if we couldn’t love the tennis superstar any more, she went and threw shade at Drake in the most epic way possible as well as the stuffy elitists who derided her for performing the Compton-born dance move at Wimbledon.
Dog eats passport
Leroy Carter’s canine was clearly not too chuffed with his owner’s All Black call-up, all while validating generations of student excuses.
Woakes bats in a sling
A defiant act of bravery, England bowler Chris Woakes, who had dislocated his shoulder earlier, strode onto the Oval with his left arm strapped under his jersey and a bat in his right hand in a heroic bid to save the test against India.
Hangman’s backyard scraps
Beloved UFC veteran Dan Hooker kept himself busy while sidelined with a hand injury as he launched his one minute scraps Youtube series hosted in his Auckland backyard. The events attracted international headlines, police attention, and heavy criticism from boxing purists.
Gallen no-shows press conference
Billed as the biggest grudge match in Australasia since Cameron vs Tua, former NRL enforcer Paul Gallen continued the mind games when he skipped the press conference with Sonny Bill Williams, further fuelling the flames.
Ioane claps back
The All Blacks answer to Regina George, Reiko Ioane was a symphony of sass this season, putting fans firmly in their place in response to criticism over his performances.
Cow bells banned
Chiefs supporters were unceremoniously silenced at the Super Rugby final in Christchurch, unable to bring their primary weapon, a blunted Chiefs side was bested and the Crusaders empire returned.
Penrith trainer cuts off conversion
In a pathetic display of poor sportsmanship, Panthers trainer Corey Bocking ran in front of Jayden Campbell as he was about to take a kick at goal, the club being slapped with a $50,000 for the childish act.
No shirt, no play
Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike was shown red after scoring the winner against Southampton for removing his shirt in celebration. If only the same rule applied to Phoenix fans at the Cake Tin.
Bringing back the bite
Paying homage to some of her male counterparts of the past, French forward Axelle Berthoumieu took a bite of Ireland’s Aoife Wafer during the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final, copping a 12 match ban.
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One person has died after a single vehicle crash on State Highway 2 near Tangoio.
The single vehicle crash was reported just after 11:40am today.
The sole occupant of the vehicle died at the scene.
It is the first death on New Zealand roads in this holiday period, although a man died in hospital yesterday after being struck by a car in Napier on Friday.
State Highway 2 was closed for several hours, but has now re-opened.
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The Port Hills fire on 14 February 2024.Stuff / Kai Schwoerer
Off the back of two devastating wildfires in Tongariro National Park, the country is facing another summer of increased fire risk. And while our wildfire history pales in comparison to our neighbours in Australia, New Zealand has had its share of raging hillside infurnos. Our reporter Kate Green takes a look back at some of the big ones, and a look forward at future risk.
It’s early February, 1946, and a long drought has left Taupō hot, and dry.
On one unassuming roadside, a dropped cigarette butt is about to light a fire that burns for days, fanned by a strong northerly wind, through more than 100,000 hectares of land, including 12,000 of pine forest.
“Where it is strongest, little can be done,” proclaimed one Newsreel special, which came out on 10 February. “Only rain can end it.”
The blaze was extinguished in due course – although little information is available online about how this was done.
After destruction comes new life. Come autumn, an unexpected surge of life was observed when radiata pine sprung up in dense patches over burnt plantations; the fire had opened cones which were normally closed and liberated the seeds.
Victoria University ecologist Nicola Day said fire could often have unexpected or unseen effects, particularly for the soil below the fireground.
Her work has involved analysing firegrounds in Canada, and more recently, the sites of wildfires at Lake Pukaki and Lake Ōhau in 2020.
Media were allowed to look at the damage the week after the Lake Ōhau fire happened.RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Historically, Aotearoa had experienced a low fire-risk and its plants hadn’t evolved to survive them – but Day said they’d found a number of natives were hardier than they looked.
“If you go into a site like that it looks like everything’s dead,” she said. “But actually, the top of the plants have burnt off and died, but the inside of them, the part that controls the growth of them, has survived.”
Woody species were the slowest to recover, she said, but even they could regenerate and look alive again within a year or two.
The charred ground and trees after a fire at Lake Pukaki in the Mackenzie District on 31 August 2020.RNZ / Nathan Mckinnon
But in the meantime, it left a gap for exotic species – which tended to grow much faster than native species – to take over, making it even harder for natives to repopulate.
It happened at Lake Ōhau in 2020. The fire was lit by an electrical short circuit on a power pole, and it raged for nine days, destroying 48 homes and buildings and damaging 5043 hectares of land, making it one of New Zealand’s most significant wildfires in recent history.
Day said it took the landscape a couple of months to look green again, and for a while, the main species were exotic. But given another couple of years, nearly all the same species had returned, albeit in different quantities.
A helicopter drops water on a fire near Lake Pukaki on 31 August 2020.RNZ / Nathan Mckinnon
Let’s step back again in time: 25 November, 1955.
Over the next three days, a fire fanned by gale-force winds destroyed a third of the Balmoral State Forest in North Canterbury – 2400 hectares of timber.
News reports from the time described it as a “disastrous experience” for its owner, the Canterbury Forest Conservancy.
According to a booklet published by the New Zealand Forest Service in 2005 (The Balmoral Forest Fire of November 1955), the first signs of trouble came when residents heard “pistol-like cracks” and, “on investigation found the old mill burning fiercely” at about 10pm.
The only telephone nearby was in that very building, and very much on fire. So, one Mr Bailey drove six kilometres to the Forest Service headquarters to raise the alarm.
The booklet’s author John Ward, who worked as a forest ranger and a rural fire mediator, mused on this question in its final pages: “Would we have done better in 2005? I think yes, and no.”
“No amount of helicopters could have stopped that fire [in its early stages] but perhaps we could have made some real progress in aerial suppression when the wind dropped [on day three]. But would we have had enough men to patrol the Balmoral road and keep the main forest block safe?”
FENZ wildfire manager Tim Mitchell said while firefighting techniques had changed since those days, it still came down to “putting water on the red stuff”.
Water was still the most effective way of dousing fire, but now there were additives available that could made it more effective at cooling or stopping its spread.
Aircraft had also become more powerful, he said, meaning they could carry more water more safely.
Fire crews battling the Port Hills fire in Christchurch for a second day, on 15 February 2024.RNZ / Angus Dreaver
And a good thing, too – Mitchell said going by the data on large wildfires (that is, anything larger than 1000 hectares) the risk was increasing.
In the five decades from 1964 to 2015, there had been 19 such fires. In the past decade from 2015 to present day, there had already been 13.
“Still quite a reasonable number, but over a much smaller timeframe,” Mitchell said. “On that basis, yes, you could say that certainly the trend is suggesting that the number of large wildfires is increasing.”
It was likely caused by a number of factors, he said: warmer, dryer, windier conditions at times due to climate change, but also, “where we’re living, and how we’re living”.
New developments meant towns were spreading outwards into rural areas with lots of vegetation and slopes which increased fire risk, and increased recreation ability meant people were accessing off-grid areas more often.
Farm and forestry equipment, too, was more powerful and ran hotter, making it more likely to cause a spark or ignite dry grass.
In fact, Mitchell said the data showed humans caused 98 percent of New Zealand’s wildfires.
Hugh Wallace, team lead for fire and atmospheric sciences at the Bioeconomy Science Institute, said that fact was actually a bright spot for him – something we had the ability to change.
People watch Port Hills fires.Matthew Rankin
“Unlike North America, unlike Australia, we don’t really get those lightning-caused fires. So basically, where you get more people, you get more fires.”
Wallace said climate change was complicated, but some areas would definitely be in for more hot, dry, windy days, “which is the kind of conditions you do get fires on”.
“My gut instinct is that we probably would get more big fires.”
Firefighter Lieutenant Oli Barnfather of the New Zealand Army fights an underground hotspot on the Port Hills of Christchurch.Supplied / NZ Defence Force
The Port Hills have seen two major events in the past decade – the first, in February 2017, was when two separate blazes burned through more than 1600 hectares, claimed the life of a helicopter pilot, nine homes and damaged five others, and took 66 days to extinguish.
The cause of one of the fires was deemed to be an electrical fault, and the other remains unknown.
Seven years later almost to the day, the first calls came in just after 2pm on Valentines Day in 2024.
Firefighters continue their efforts as they work to dampen down remaining hot spots and create a buffer zone around the 24km perimeter fire ground in Christchurch’s Port Hills.CHRIS SKELTON
At its peak, more than 130 firefighters, 15 helicopters and two aircraft fought the blaze, as it burnt about 470 hectares across the Port Hills in three weeks.
One home – a tiny house built out of a shipping container – was destroyed.
Stats NZ expects the risk of fire to increase in many parts of the country due to higher temperatures, stronger winds, and less rainfall associated with climate change.
Using data from the last census in 2023, Stats NZ said there were 4683 wildfires per year on average in the five years to 30 June 2022.
Fire and Emergency NZ said the 2019/2020 and 1998/1999 years remained the worst on record for number and area burnt, respectively.
Mitchell said better awareness was needed of how individuals could prevent fires – even things as simple as choosing not to mow the lawns or burn rubbish on a hot day, and pouring water on ashes after a bonfire.
“It’s such an easy way to avoid a lot of the wildfires that we’re having,” he said.
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Festival goers at Rhythm and Vines are off to a soggy start after the region was wiped with heavy rain.Lucy Parkinson
After a soggy start, festivalgoers at Rhythm and Vines can expect to spend the next two days drying up in a gentle breeze.
The three-day music festival in Gisborne started yesterday as thousands turned up in gumboots and ponchos, with the city’s airport MetService station recording its wettest December day since 1937.
Lucy Parkinson – who is at the festival for the second time – was disappointed by the rain.
“I was originally put off going again but I thought that surely it wouldn’t happen for a second year in a row.”
She said she was worried about slipping risks after the heavy rainfall.
“The mud particularly around the toilets, water fountains and high traffic areas is really bad. With the weather last night, the staff were really good at making sure people were okay and preventing attendees from going up the hill during the massive downpour, but I think the grounds are in dire need of some wood chips! The grounds are a slip hazard and I’m worried that people will get injured.”
Festival goers at Rhythm and Vines are off to a soggy start after the region was wiped with heavy rain.Lucy Parkinson
After a muddy experience at the 2024 festival, Parkinson equipped herself this year with a gazebo, gumboots and a decent tent, but it still felt insufficient against the heavy rain.
And after two consecutive soggy festivals, Parkinson said organisers could have communicated better.
“I also think the organisers could’ve prepared festival goers better with more warnings about the weather, as there’s lots of young people who came unprepared.”
Festival director Kieran Spillane said they had alerted festivalgoers on the possible weather condition and asked people to dress to the conditions.
He said more wood chips were out on Tuesday morning, which will help reduce slipping risks.
Festival goers at Rhythm and Vines are off to a soggy start after the region was wiped with heavy rain.Lucy Parkinson
But with the weather set to clear, Spillane was confident the grounds will dry up in hours.
“The forecast for today is a very nice pleasant 25, 26 degrees with no rain for the remainder for the festival. We knew the rain was coming so we were prepared for it. The sites are actually holding up very, very well. It’s in as good condition as you would expect.”
The rain was good for business at The Warehouse.
Store manager Brett Mitchell said the festival season was their busiest time of the year.
“Yesterday was torrential rain, a lot of wet people coming in looking for ponchos, tents and towels. So it’s been really full on.”
Gisborne weather has finally cleared up after a soggy start for Rhythm and Vines festival-goers.Supplied / Brett Mitchell.
Mitchell said due to the often wet weather and big crowds, they hired a local cleaning company during the festival for extra support.
“Just to help us keep the store tidy and public toilets clean.”
The store begin preparing stock for the festival nine months ahead and based orders on what was popular the previous year, but rain gear had been a staple.
“We always factor in there’s gonna be rain, because it seems that every year there is at the moment.”
But with the weather clearing up, he was still optimistic.
“We definitely got lots of bodyboards and beach stuff so if the weather does come right, people can certain come in to get all all the stuff for going to the beach, sunblocks. We’ve got plenty of that ready to go as well.”
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At the end of his ordeal, the 80-year old was taken to Thames Hospital in a moderate condition.
But that rescue was hours in the making, with the mother and her two teenagers the first to reach him when bad weather meant rescuers – and helicopters – could not.
The man was wearing only a singlet and shorts when he got lost while hiking on Sunday. He had also run out of water.
But he did have a mobile phone he used to call family, who then alerted police.
While they were able to pinpoint his location, the weather thwarted efforts to get two helicopters to him.
Police did have another option – the family staying in Crosbies Hut about 100 metres away.
“That’s six hours he could have been by himself if these members of the public hadn’t stepped up and help us out,” Waikato West area commander Mike Henwood said.
“It’s already being looked at higher up in terms of giving them some public recognition in terms of an award for their bravery and their actions to save somebody else who definitely needed it,” he told RNZ.
After being tasked with finding the man, the woman and her teenage children formed a human circle around him to keep him warm.
It was not until first light that search and rescue teams could reach them on foot several hours later.
“Definitely lucky, really it comes down to the fact that he was in close vicinity to one of the DOC huts and there were people staying in there at this time of year,” Henwood said.
“You have to expect that with the temperature and injuries they’ve certainly saved him in some shape or form,” he told RNZ.
“I suppose I would just like to think that any member of the public, any Kiwi would try to step up if they could to help somebody that was in trouble.”
Technology and the mobile location capability used to help find exactly where the man was also key to the rescue.
“Once we were able to obtain that we were able to actually work out it was very close to the Crosbies Hut location,” Henwood said.
“We were able to check with DOC if anyone had made bookings for that hut, and luckily because it’s a busy time of year, there was.”
Henwood had not spoken to the man’s family directly, but was aware they were “a little bit disappointed he had gone off on this mission and got himself in trouble”.
“Which often happens but you can’t tell some people, they like to be adventurous,” Henwood said.
He said a lot of people took more risks than they should while trying to squeeze things in during a busy holiday time.
“Often the weather is not right for them to do it, it can change really fast, and if you have to cancel the trip or the plan that you’ve been waiting months or even a year for sometimes you just have to do it when the weather is how it is,” he said.
Having warm clothes, extra food, a charged mobile and a plan with friends or family were also important.
So too was picking a right activity for your physical ability, Henwood said.
“If we hadn’t have had the family nearby it definitely would have increased his risk of more health issues and the inability due to the weather of helicopters to get in there.
“It took several hours, I think the LandSAR team managed to walk in at 4am in the morning after us initially being made aware at 10pm,” he said.
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Police have arrested and charged a 20-year-old man following an antisocial road user gathering in Gisborne overnight.
In the early hours of this morning, 30 December, Police were alerted to a group of around a dozen vehicles participating in antisocial road activity on the corner of Whatatutu and Matawai roads.
Police received multiple reports from disgruntled members of the public, and upon arrival the group quickly dispersed.
One vehicle fled from Police after being signalled to stop for continuing to drive in a dangerous manner. The vehicle was then located further up Whatatutu Road where the driver was seen fleeing on foot. The vehicle was secured and impounded.
Further enquiries and follow-up led to the driver of the vehicle being identified, and Police located and arrested the driver today.
The man is due to appear in the Gisborne District Court on Monday 5 January, charged with failing to stop when required, dangerous driving and operating a vehicle causing sustained loss of traction.
We’d like to thank the members of the public for reporting the antisocial activity in a timely manner, allowing Police to disperse the group.
Police will continue to take action to prevent this activity on our roads, and ask the public to please report any antisocial behaviour to Police. Please call 111 if it is happening now, or make a report via 105 if it is after the fact.