Auckland flooding: Daniel Newth, who died kayaking down road, remembered as generous, popular adventurer

The man who died kayaking during the Auckland floods was surfer and arborist Daniel Newth, of Sunnynook.

As floodwaters raged down the street near his North Shore home on Friday, the 25-year-old offered his mate his surfboard to brave the torrent and took a small kayak for himself.

His friend survived, but Newth’s kayak went under a culvert.

“He went down the road and it was too powerful, the water, and it swept him away, down underneath the culverts,” his father Craig Newth told the Herald.

“He didn’t make it. He drowned.”

Daniel Newth was an adventurer, a professional arborist and an ardent surfer, Craig Newth said.

He had also represented New Zealand several times in rock climbing competitions overseas.

Daniel Newth, 25, was found dead in a culvert near Target Rd. He is being remembered as a man who loved his work and surfing.

“I called him the human monkey because he had the climb of his life in the first climb he did,” Craig Newth said. “He topped the competition.”

The Wednesday before he died he had risen at 3.30am to surf Māori Bay on Auckland’s West Coast under the stars with a friend.

“He was an adventurer, an adventurous soul.

“He was generous, he wasn’t into material things, he just loved the outdoors.”

His son loved his work as an arborist for Tree King in Glenfield, Craig Newth said.

“He had a really awesome boss who used to let him go surfing because he was amazing at his job and put his job first, But he’d always fit in a surf before work if he could or take a day off and work in lieu.”

Daniel Newth on Mt Ruapehu during a trip with friends last year.

When he was a young child, the family lived on a yacht before settling on the North Shore. Newth later attended Northcote College and had a close-knit and loyal group of friends.

“We bought a house next to my mother so their grandparents could go up next to them. And those bonds have certainly paid off, their friends are incredibly loyal,” his father said.

Two farewells were planned, including one likely to be held at the Muriwai Surf Club.

“But we’ll probably do another farewell we would do a big paddle out with all of the surfing community and all of his friends and and have a memorial out at Muriwai or Maori Bay or Bethells Beach.”

The 25-year-old packed several lifetimes of adventures into his short life, his family said.

“He loved cooking on a fire in the outdoors so we’re probably going to do a barbecue out there.”

Three people have died in the Auckland floods. Daniel Mark Miller, 34, of Wairau Valley near where Newth lived, was on Sunday named as a victim. He was found in a culvert on Target Road in Wairau Valley on Friday.

Miller was filming himself going door-to-door and checking on residents in the area before his death. The third victim has yet to be named.