A disoriented fisherman in a leaky 3.5-metre boat motored for more than four hours in the dark, thinking he was headed for a lighthouse in the Bay of Islands, but instead arrived at the Poor Knights Islands, about 73km further south.
The man, in his late 50s, had no communications, lifejacket or flare and was dressed in a T-shirt, jeans and gumboots.
Only when he woke up and flagged down a passing launch on Sunday morning did he discover where he was.
The incident comes in the same week a massive marine search was sparked in the Far North when two ill-equipped fishermen were adrift at sea for 24 hours off Mangonui, after the motor failed on their small fishing boat.
Two coastguard vessels, a fixed wing plane, a helicopter and numerous police staff were involved in the successful search and rescue of the 72-year-old father and his 23-year-old son.