Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Three men rescued near Taupo

Rotorua Daily Post
4 Jan, 2016 07:56 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Three men have been rescued from a central North Island river after going for a swim and getting stuck in dense bush.

A major night-time operation involving police, coastguard, a rescue helicopter and two search and rescue teams was mounted after three adventurers reported getting into difficulty swimming down the Waihaha River, on the western side of Lake Taupo.

Earlier in the day, the men, all aged 25 and from Auckland and Wellington, had walked from the end of Waihaha Rd through a bush reserve to the edge of Lake Taupo then followed a track up the river towards the Waihaha Falls.

A police spokesman said the men decided to jump into the river to swim the three kilometres back to the lake after they struggled to navigate the track which was overgrown and difficult to follow.

But by 7pm they were tired and cold, and still some distance from their destination.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said they decided to get out of the river, and tried to walk to the lake, but the bush was so thick they could not get through.

With daylight running out and fatigue setting in, one of the men called his father who raised the alarm.

The Lake Taupo Volunteer Coastguard rescue vessel with a search and rescue team on board arrived at Waihaha Bay at about 9pm, but could not land on the beach because of strong winds and large waves.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Police had to use the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter to fly in a second rescue team.

After landing at about 10.30pm, the rescue team was taken up the river in a boat provided by people camping at Waihaha and quickly found the missing men.

The trio were taken out and spent the night at a local marae.

Discover more

Local children dive into learn-to-swim

12 Jan 07:50 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Serious injuries in BoP crash, road closed

Premium
Rotorua Daily Post
|Updated

'Hiding from the council': Rotorua's secret pod shelter for homeless

Rotorua Daily Post

'Huge relief': Owner successfully appeals Dolly's 'dangerous dog' classification


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Serious injuries in BoP crash, road closed
Rotorua Daily Post

Serious injuries in BoP crash, road closed

“Police asks motorists to avoid the area.”

15 Jul 09:32 PM
Premium
Premium
'Hiding from the council': Rotorua's secret pod shelter for homeless
Rotorua Daily Post
|Updated

'Hiding from the council': Rotorua's secret pod shelter for homeless

15 Jul 09:20 PM
'Huge relief': Owner successfully appeals Dolly's 'dangerous dog' classification
Rotorua Daily Post

'Huge relief': Owner successfully appeals Dolly's 'dangerous dog' classification

15 Jul 09:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP