A woman had to be rescued by a police search and rescue team after she was left behind by friends during a bush walk.

At 6.40am volunteers on board NZCT Rescue found the man sitting on the rocky shore, moderately hypothermic and relieved to see the crew.

Police say it took search and rescue teams nearly five hours to bring the 22-year-old down the mountain from a height of 1650m.

The younger sister of a 19-year-old woman who was pulled unconscious from the Piha surf says she wants to thank the beachgoers who saved her life for "everything".

Jackson said he had just sat down at the beach with his girlfriend when he saw a woman crying and yelling.

The French Lifeguard who sparked a search and rescue operation said he was never in any danger, he was just out for a bodysurf.

The fishing boat was found sunk off the Canterbury coast after sending out a distress signal in a brutal storm on October 18.

The crew on a Papua New Guinean fishing boat were rescued after their boat was damaged by fire.

Police believe they have found a body inside the sunken Jubilee fishing trawler on the seabed off Canterbury.

A woman who was unable to be woken after an evening nap in remote sand dunes was flown to hospital in a critical condition last night.

A tramper was winched to safety after injuring herself in a fall while walking on Sunday.

Search and rescue teams from four regions are looking for a hunter who has not returned after leaving his home on Wednesday night.

Three men have been found safe and well after spending more than 30 hours lost in a 5m aluminium dinghy off the coast off Nukunono Atoll in Tokelau.

A 13-year-old girl was rescued from the water off Auckland's coast today after it was reported she was in trouble.

Police have named 77-year-old Whetuki Sam Kopua and 60-year-old Matekino Lucy Burling, both of Owaka, as the people missing in the Catlin area.

An elderly man was rescued after spending several hours in heavy bush near Taumarunui over night.

Two inexperienced trampers owe their lives to the volunteer search and rescue parties that rescued them from the Nelson Lakes National Park on the weekend, police say.

Two trampers were rescued from a mountain in Nelson Lakes National Park after spending a night exposed to -18C and falling snow.

A second body has been found in a field of avalanche debris in the hunt for missing Canadian students.

Two people have been rescued by emergency services after their boat hit rocks in the Hauraki Gulf this morning.

A woman and her 12-year-old daughter had been tramping in the Poukai Ranges, near Mount Taranaki, when they became stuck due to icy conditions.

Police have rescued a man from a yacht on the Waitemata Harbour, where he was having a medical emergency.

A water rescue is underway in Christchurch where a man is clinging to a bridge pillar in the Waimakariri River.

A woman lost on a Waikato mountain was rescued after contacting her family by Facebook on her phone.

Whitianga teenager Rebecca Harris owes her life to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

Five trampers who were rescued from a ravine drove more than 120km to hand-deliver a basket of baked goods to the chopper team who pulled them out.

A teenage tramper was winched to safety in high winds at Raglan's Mt Karioi yesterday afternoon.

Two Kiwi sailors had just seconds to grab life jackets and abandon their burning yacht after being woken by their skipper at midnight.

Five people were rescued from a Northland harbour last night after the engine of their overloaded dinghy failed, and they began drifting towards rocks.

An elderly woman who went missing in her car overnight on Thursday on the Karikari Peninsula had become trapped in mud so deep she was unable to open the doors and had to wait to be found yesterday morning.