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Country Life: Tuapeka Mouth Ferry celebrates 130 years

Source: Radio New Zealand

Punt operator Tom Jones and dog Yoda. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

Near where the muddy green of the Tuapeka meets the turquoise blue of the Clutha River there once stood a “bustling settlement”.

Back in the early days of Otago’s gold rush, Tuapeka Mouth – about 30 kilometres north-west of Balclutha – had houses on either side and at least two, maybe even three pubs, according to Tom Jones.

With no bridge, those looking to cross from one side of the river to the other had only one option – the Tuapeka Mouth Ferry.

“There used to be a lot of these crossings back in the day, gold mining days, early days of discovery.

“Between the sea and Roxburgh, there was 15 of them, so before bridges you’d float your way across,” Jones told Country Life.

“This is the last one in the southern hemisphere.”

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Jones has operated the ferry crossing for the past six years, taking people – and cars – from one side of the river to the other.

Though this is not the 1896 original, not much has changed in terms of how it functions, he explained.

“We’ve got two boats with wooden platform on the top.

“It harnesses the energy in the river in the same way that a yacht harnesses the wind in a sail, so you’ve got to turn on an angle to get any push forward or sideways as in the case of this.

“There’s a main cable upstream to stop it from being pushed downstream, and, as I say, it turns on an angle and the energy hits one side of the bow and pushes it, shimmies basically sideways.”

This is the southern hemisphere’s only still operational river ferry. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

The Tuapeka Mouth Ferry has been running for 130 years. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

The vessel requires conditions to be just right to operate though. Too much wind, the river being too high or too low means it can’t run.

When Country Life paid a visit the Clutha River was high and flowing fast – too fast to safely operate the punt – after a few days of rain.

New Zealand’s largest river in terms of volume, it normally operates with a flow of about 500 cubic metres per second but that day the flow had more than doubled.

Tom Jones has been operating the punt for six years. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

Conditions have to be just right to cross – the river can’t be too high or too low, and the wind can’t be too strong. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

The ferry is still used by locals but has also increasingly become popular with tourists in the post-Covid era, capturing a unique part of New Zealand’s history.

“There’s very little else here in Tuapeka Mouth itself.

“It’s in the middle of nowhere, but it’s something really worth discovering,” Jones said.

He estimates he does about 60 to 70 crossings each week in optimum conditions.

As a “public utility”, the ferry ride is free and it operates from 10am until 2pm most days – except for Christmas Day, Good Friday and Anzac morning.

Learn more:

  • Find out more about the Tuapeka Mouth Ferry here

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Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Ben Barclay to bear NZ flag at 2026 Olympic Winter Games

Source: Radio New Zealand

NZ Team Ngā Pou Hāpai (flag bearers) snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (L) and freeski athlete Ben Barclay (R). Supplied / New Zealand Olympic Committee

The Olympic Committee has named snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and freeski athlete Ben Barclay as New Zealand’s flagbearers at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

The pair were formally announced as Ngā Pou Hāpai Tāne and Wahine (male and female flagbearers) during a special team gathering at New Zealand Lodge in the Italian town of Livigno.

Sadowski-Synnott said she felt “very honoured” to be selected.

“To share this with Beano (Ben) who I’ve spent a lot of my career with, not only on my snowboard but off it too, is special. He’s just an all-round great human being and I’m proud to be sharing this moment with him,” she said.

“I just hope to lead the NZ Team in a way that can make everyone proud, it means a lot to me,” she said.

Barclay echoed Sadowski-Synnott’s feelings of pride.

“It’s an honour to wear the kākahu (cloak) and be chosen as a flagbearer alongside such a good friend as Zoi. To lead the team into the opening ceremony is a privilege for both of us,” he said.

“When the kākahu was put on our shoulders it gave me a bit of a shiver, it’s an honour that not many people get to experience and to carry that forward throughout this Olympic experience will be incredible.”

The flagbearers were selected by the team’s chef de mission Marty Toomey, who considered past performances, leadership qualities, the ability to inspire teammates, and each athlete’s competition preparation and performance.

He said both athletes reflected the spirit the team wanted to take into the games.

“These two are not only incredible athletes, but incredible human beings … They work hard, they stay grounded and they lift the people around them.

“Ben represents resilience, commitment and genuine care for his teammates. He has earned deep respect across the team through his attitude, his professionalism and the way he supports others.

“Zoi has set new standards for New Zealand snow sports. Her consistency, her competitive courage and the way she carries herself make her a powerful example for every athlete here.”

Sadowski-Synnott, Olympian #1384 had a full set of Olympic medals, having represented the NZ Team at PyeongChang 2018 where she won bronze in Big Air and at Beijing 2022 where she won gold in Slopestyle and silver in Big Air.

Barclay, Olympian #1520, represented the NZ Team at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Freeski Slopestyle and Big Air, finishing tenth in Slopestyle, which stands as New Zealand’s best result in the event.

New Zealand is set to be represented by 17 athletes at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, which run from 6-22 February.

The opening ceremony will be at 7.30am New Zealand time on Saturday.

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Suicide bomber kills 31 in Shi’ite mosque in Pakistan’s capital

Source: Radio New Zealand

By Asif Shahzad, Reuters

Security personnel and locals gather at a blast site inside a mosque in Islamabad on February 6, 2026. GHULAM RASOOL / AFP

An attacker opened fire at the gates of a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Islamabad on Friday (all times local) before setting off a suicide bomb and killing at least 31 people, in the deadliest attack of its kind in Pakistan’s capital in over a decade.

More than 170 others were wounded in the explosion, detonated after guards challenged the attacker as he made his way into the Khadija Tul Kubra Imambargah compound on the outskirts of the city, officials said.

Images from the site showed bloodied bodies lying on the carpeted mosque floor surrounded by shards of glass, debris and panicked worshippers. Dozens more wounded were lying in the gardens of the compound as people called for help.

The man blew “himself up in the last row of worshippers,” Defence Minister Khawaja Asif wrote on X.

He said the bomber had a history of travelling to Afghanistan and blamed neighbouring India for sponsoring the assault, without providing evidence.

There was no immediate response from New Delhi, which has dismissed Pakistan’s accusations of backing militants in the past.

Capital already on alert for visit

The attack was the deadliest suicide bombing in Islamabad in more than a decade, according to conflict monitor ACLED, which said it “bears the hallmarks of the Islamic State”.

Shi’ites, who are in the minority in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation of 241 million, have been targeted in sectarian violence in the past, including by Islamic State and the Sunni Islamist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Bombings are rare in the heavily guarded capital, although Pakistan has been hit by a rising wave of militancy in the past few years, particularly along the border with Afghanistan.

Afghanistan’s foreign ministry condemned the attack. Kabul has repeatedly denied charges that it provides safe haven to militants carrying out attacks in Pakistan.

“A total of 31 people have lost their lives. The number of wounded brought to hospitals has risen to 169,” Islamabad’s Deputy Commissioner, Irfan Memon, said in a statement.

The capital was already on high alert on Friday for the visiting President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, with roads around the capital blocked by checkpoints and security forces posted across the city.

“We are giving every possible help to the families of those killed and those injured,” Pakistan’s parliamentary affairs minister Tariq Fazal said after visiting the wounded at Islamabad’s Polyclinic hospital.

Week of violence

Pakistan has also blamed India for assaults by militants in the restive Balochistan province over the weekend, accusations that have fanned smouldering tensions between the nuclear-powered neighbours who engaged in their worst conflict in decades in May.

New Delhi has denied any involvement in the violence in Balochistan where Pakistan’s military has battled a decades-long insurgency.

That region was brought to a standstill after separatist militants stormed government buildings, hospitals and markets in a coordinated attack, killing 58 civilians and security officials. The military said it killed 216 militants in targeted offensives across the province.

The military said earlier on Friday that another 24 militants linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were killed in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The last major attack in Islamabad was a suicide bombing on 11 November that killed 12 people and wounded 27 others. Pakistan said it was carried out by an Afghan national. No group claimed responsibility for that attack.

– Reuters

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‘Too often people look to Wellington’ – Northland leaders want more local involvement at Waitangi

Source: Radio New Zealand

Northland leaders want local government to get more involved at Waitangi. RNZ/ Mark Papalii

Pita Tipene is no stranger at Waitangi. He served on the Waitangi National Trust Board for almost a decade, only stepping down when he hit the board’s maximum term limit.

Now as chairperson of the Northland Regional Council, he wants local government more involved at Waitangi.

“Knowing that the bicentennial of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi is now only 14 years away, I hope I’m still here then, so if you keep that in focus and you look at what Te Tiriti o Waitangi is all about, article 2 refers to kawanatanga, governance.

“Too often people look to Wellington, and by the way, the capital used to be just across the water here at Okiato. But too many people look to Wellington as kawanatanga and tend to forget that local government is just as involved in that article. Local government, in my case Northland Regional Council, has to step up and be honourable partners.”

Northland Regional Council chairperson Pita Tipene. RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Tipene said it did not really matter where the council was located, but he said the four Northland councils, Far North, Whangārei, Kaipara and Northland Regional, had been working together to ensure the solutions for Northland came out of Northland.

“So what we know is Northland is not one place where you can paint it with one brush. Over in the Kaipara, or north of Mangamuka, or in the Bay of Islands or Hokianga, we have our different ways and implications. So my message is we are very united and we are going to the government to say we have the solutions, bespoke solutions, that for instance protect and enhance our environment.”

Northland Regional Council included a committee called Te Ruarangi, which was a mixture of iwi voices and hapu voices, to give affect to Te Tiriti, he said.

“It is a very powerful forum and if you were to ever sit in there and experience the level of discussion and debate and insight into how Te Tiriti o Waitangi as envisaged in 1840 can be applied in 2026 and beyond, I’d invite anybody to come and listen to that.”

Far North District Council mayor Moko Tepania said last year was the first that Local Government New Zealand was officially represented at Waitangi.

“We at a local government level carry so many of those principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi around partnerships, local partnerships with iwi, hapū, marae, whānau on the ground. So it’s only right that we as a sector are represented here at the same time.”

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania. Peter de Graaf

Northland councils have always been co-hosts alongside mana whenua for Waitangi commemorations and it was great to have other councils participate, he said.

“We have obligations under so many different pieces of legislation, least of all in the Local Government Act to uphold the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and how we deal with Māori on the ground. We’re local government. We sit alongside iwi rūnanga, who are also a form of local government in this country as well. So it’s always beautiful to come home to see those who come to also respect and honour our nation’s founding document here in the birthplace of the nation, Waitangi.”

Tipene said in the lead up to the centennial in 1940, iwi and political leaders got together and asked what could be done to ensure that the centennial reflected the nationhood.

“The tangible symbols is the Whare Rūnanga, they built and opened it on the 6th of February 1940. Ngātokimatawhaorua the waka was launched at the same time.

“Tangible symbols, what’s our generation contribution? Will it be a new bridge that is two lane and symbolic of Te Tiriti o Waitangi instead of the one lane bridge that we currently have? That’s something for us to all think about.”

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Yarns, pottery, woodwork and happy mail: The rise of analogue hobbies

Source: Radio New Zealand

When novice sourdough bakers kneaded their way through pandemic lockdowns, crafters were doing something similar – knitting, crocheting, stitching, journalling and shaping clay, not for virality, but for sanity.

Retailers jumped onboard, tempting doom-scrolling thumbs with crafty kits that became a gateway into what the internet affectionately dubbed “grandma hobbies” or analogue hobbies.

Five years on, the revival has moved beyond the screen. Across Aotearoa, these slow, tactile pastimes are drawing people into studios, markets and lounge rooms – spaces where creativity doubles as friendships, mental wellbeing and even activism.

Unsplash / CPhotos, Daiga Ellaby, pure julia

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Removing sewage before it goes septic is main focus of Wellington water company

Source: Radio New Zealand

Untreated water was leaking onto the capital’s south coast beaches due to the Moa Point Treatment Plant flooding and being turned off from early this morning. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Wellington Water is working against the clock to get raw sewage out of its Moa Point Treatment Plant before it goes septic.

Early Wednesday morning the plant was flooded by raw sewage – causing it to shut down and be evacuated.

Some of that waste had been taken to landfill – while the rest of it was now being pumped out of the facility.

The water company’s board chair Nick Leggett said they’re working hard to get the material out of the plant prior to it becoming septic.

“That has been a focus from pretty much the moment that we knew there was something wrong.

“It was getting this place clean so it is a safe place to work and so it is not emitting obviously a stench.”

Sewage can be seen on Wellington’s South Coast after a leak from the Moa Point wastewater plant. Kate Taptiklis

That sewage was being pumped from the plant’s 1.8 kilometre long outfall pipe to reduce harm to beaches.

Wellington Water believed some issue with that pipe had caused the major failure of the plant.

Leggett said divers had been inspecting it but were yet to find any form of blockage.

On Friday it was reported Wellington Mayor Andrew Little would be raising the Moa Point treatment plant failure with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Monday.

The meeting was scheduled already but Little said it would be a topic of discussion.

Little said one of the questions in the days ahead would be about setting up an appropriate investigation or inquiry into what happened.

“We can’t let this happen again,” he said. “We can’t let such a critical plant for a modern city fail in the way that this has and cause the environmental degradation that it has.

“It’s important we get the facts and it’s important we understand what we need to do to prevent it from happening again.”

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WorkSafe says explosion that seriously burnt a forklift driver was avoidable

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Tank Test worker was hospitalised for nine weeks after several condemned, nine-kilogram gas bottles exploded and their forklift caught fire. SUPPLIED

An explosion that put a forklift driver in hospital for nine weeks could have been avoided with basic safety controls, WorkSafe said.

The worker was seriously burned when several condemned, nine kilogram gas bottles exploded and their forklift caught fire in March, 2024 at Tank Test in Papatoetoe, Auckland.

The company was fined more than $300,000, including reparations of $5,000, in a reserved decision of the Manukau District Court.

In sentencing Tank Test, Judge Gus Andrée Wiltens described the hazard as “clear and obvious”. He noted the company could have eliminated the risk at no cost by ensuring forklift and degassing operations never happened at the same time.

WorkSafe principal inspector, David Worsfold said the case highlighted a significant gap between knowing what should be done and actually doing it.

“This worker ended up in hospital because his employer didn’t take simple steps to eliminate an obvious risk,” he said.

Worsfold added that every business, regardless of industry, could learn from what went wrong at Tank Test and that procedures that weren’t monitored and enforced were just paper.

“This case isn’t just about flammable gases. It’s about a pattern we see across industries,” he said.

“Businesses may identify risks but can fail to follow through with proper controls. They have procedures but don’t ensure they’re working in practice.”

WorkSafe said that manufacturing was a priority sector for the regulator, as injury rates in manufacturing had remained stubbornly high over the past decade.

Tank Test has been approached for comment.

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NZ stock less affected by global market than Australia, advisor says

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Australian stock exchange was down by two percent. 123RF

A financial advisor believes the New Zealand stock exchange will be less affected by the latest global market trends than Australia.

The Australian stock exchange was two percent down when it closed trading yesterday evening, with some of the worst hit industries being mining and tech companies.

It came after some fears globally about investment returns on artificial intelligence.

Radical Investment financial advisor Darcy Ungaro said New Zealand’s main exports were quite different to those across the ditch.

“Specifically, commodities like iron and coal and the financial and banking industry. Obviously, there’s more tech companies in the ASX then the NZX.”

Ungaro believed that Australia was likely more connected to the global economy through its products and financial markets.

“They are far more sensitive to changes like Donald Trump’s recent nomination for Fed Chair.”

He said the New Zealand stock exchange was fairly insulated at the moment.

Tech and business commentator Paul Spain said the New Zealand stock market will be less exposed to the global trends driving down stocks in Australia and the US, due to having fewer tech companies that are listed on the local stock exchange.

However, he said New Zealanders with investments in NZ companies listed overseas, such as Xero and Rocketlab, or those with investments in international tech stocks, will still feel the hit.

Spain said the global trends may trigger people to sell off or exit from certain KiwiSaver plans; however, he said conventional wisdom would advise to hang in for the long haul.

“Sometimes we see these stocks that will have a drop, people will be fearful and maybe exit a KiwiSaver scheme and may well get burned if those stocks then end up bouncing back,” he said.

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As it happened: Waitangi visitors reflect on manaakitanga

Source: Radio New Zealand

Waitangi Day celebrations started with a dawn service, which included a rowdy reception for the deputy prime minister, a waka flotilla and powerful haka.

Follow coverage on our live blog below.

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Wellington Phoenix land All Whites star Sarpreet Singh in new loan deal

Source: Radio New Zealand

Sarpreet Singh in 2023. AFP

Wellington Phoenix have secured a stunning homecoming, signing 26-cap All White Sarpreet Singh for the rest of the A-League season.

The attacking midfielder is on loan from Serbian SuperLiga side Bačka Topola.

As a teenager, Singh made his professional debut for the Wellington outfit and logged 40 appearances, before moving to Bayern Munich in 2019 for what was then a club-record fee.

“I’m very happy to be back,” he said. “The club means a lot to me, and I can’t wait to get started and meet everyone.

“The most important thing for me is to be in an environment where I’m enjoying it, having fun and being able just be free on the field.

“That’s when I play my best football and I believe Wellington provides the best environment for that for me.”

Singh has played professionally in Germany, Portugal and Serbia over the past six-and-a-half seasons.

“I feel like I left as a boy and I’m returning as a more mature player,” he said. “Throughout those years, I’ve learnt a lot, and I’ve had plenty of highs and a lot of lows as well.

“I’ve had to deal with many setbacks throughout my career, and I feel like with age, time and experience, I’ve learnt a lot. I think I’m in a very good headspace and, physically, I’m very good as well.

“I feel like I’m a good age, I feel ready and I feel like my best years are still ahead of me.”

Phoenix coach Giancarlo Italiano jumped at the opportunity to sign Singh, after long being an admirer.

“We were very close to signing Sarpreet at the beginning of the season and he was going to be a player that I was going to try to build a team around,” Italiano said.

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