A hunter drank puddle water to slake his thirst and snuggled up to his pig dogs to stay warm after getting lost in a rugged area south of Dunedin for more than 24 hours.

The search continues for a Tauranga man missing since the stolen dinghy he and four others were in capsized in heavy seas.

The parents of a man washed out to sea while whitebaiting on Sunday are urging people to wear lifejackets, even if they are on shore.

The whitebaiter swept out to sea at the Rakaia River mouth last night has been named by police.

A whitebaiter in Canterbury was spotted by a rescue helicopter, then moments later swept out to sea.

As he shivered in darkness beneath a bed of dried ferns, 11-year-old James Regnier waved helplessly at the passing rescue helicopter above the dense bush canopy.

An 11-year-old Christchurch boy survived the night in dense bush on the West Coast at the weekend, while wearing just a pair of shorts and singlet.

Hopes are quickly fading for a fishing boat skipper and his teenage crewman missing at sea off the South Island's West Coast since Saturday.

Search teams will be back out this morning looking for a fishing vessel which is missing off the coast of Fiordland.

A massive search was due to resume this morning for two fishermen whose boat capsized near Fiordland.

After spending a month in a snow cave to fundraise for avalanche dogs, Blair Whitaker and two guests were forced to dig their way out, thanks to a blizzard.