Drowned Tauranga boy was wading in knee-deep water

The nine-year-old Tauranga boy who drowned after slipping into a 2m hole at a suburban estuary was not a good swimmer who had "more confidence than skills".

Bellevue Primary School student Oliver Patton was wading in knee-deep water on Sunday afternoon with two friends at York Park estuary in the suburb of Otumoetai when he apparently fell into the hole and did not resurface.

Oliver's mother, Sandra Patton, yesterday said her son's friends dived for him but when they could not find him they alerted police.

Oliver's body was found soon afterwards in a channel of water by police residents who had joined the search.

Mrs Patton said Oliver and his three elder brothers often swam at York Park. She described the area as a "little boy's heaven".

"He was not really a swimmer. You could say he had more confidence than skills," Mrs Patton said.

Mrs Patton said Oliver's friends did their best to help her son by calling police so quickly.

"It is just a tragic accident. He was with his friends when he died and having fun - he was doing the things he loved."

Oliver was a student at Bellevue Primary School. His father, Steve Patton, is chairman of the school's board of trustees.

Mrs Patton, a counsellor in Tauranga, said the family's Christian beliefs were helping them get through the grieving process.

Wet weather at the weekend contributed to at least two other deaths, with a Waitara man missing presumed drowned after a tubing ride down the swollen Waiwhakaiho River near New Plymouth went horribly wrong.

He was Michael Takiwa, aged 30, a father of six. His close friend and relative, Ollie Katene, said Mr Takiwa - an ex-gang member - had come to Taranaki "to change his lifestyle to provide for his family".

His body was found in the sea yesterday.

Mr Takiwa had been tubing on the river with six work colleagues.

Police said the group planned to float down the river from the Meeting of the Waters to Merrilands Domain on inner tubes.

Mr Takiwa, who did not have a lifejacket, got off the tube at the domain to swim to the riverbank just after noon. He was about two metres from the shore when he was swept under by the fast-flowing water and disappeared.

The Waiwhakaiho was at its peak in the middle of the day when a flash flood passed through.

Mr Katene said it was "just one of those freak accidents".

"He was a strong fella, but you just can't predict it."

* Nelson police yesterday recovered a car and driver from the storm-swollen Maitai River after the vehicle plunged into the torrent around 8.25pm on Sunday.

The dead man was Nigel George Palmer, 20, of Wakefield south of Nelson.

Four passengers escaped the vehicle with the help of some nearby kayakers.

- NZPA