Tony Hafoka Ao NZ TON

Paid subscriber here.

I appreciate the different topics and views.

🤣

Gotta write for your audience

I voted for two fish and a human

Screenshot of the MarineTraffic app showing the location of the Spirit of New Zealand

Looks like she’s currently in Port Fitzroy, Great Barrier Island.

🤣 one of the Coastguard skippers hailed her when her teenage nephew was on board. Got him to come on deck and then the Coastguard crew sang him happy birthday (and his Spirit crew mates joined in).

She’s awesome. I’ve seen her several times around the Hauraki Gulf.

I try to remember to check her location on MarineTraffic when I’m taking guests out on my boat - just in case she’s nearby and we can cruise past.

I’m lucky. My employment contract has switched to WFH with the stipulation that I must live in Auckland (although I suspect I could negotiate a change to another NZ city given the locations of my clients).

Except there aren’t any electrical cables connecting the USA to New Zealand (which is where the article is about).

Shingles put a stop to lots of things for me.

I’ve got 6 years to go

No. Bloody shingles has knocked me round a fair bit.

Deleting and reposting is also possible.

Event details. First divers in the water 8:30am Friday and out by 2:30pm then weigh-in starts 3:30pm (the repeat again on Saturday)

And here is the event schedule. The spearfishing starts 8:30am Friday.

Comp is being run from Motuoapa Boating and Fishing Hall, 8 Arapaho St., Motuoapa (Lake Taupo)

Yep! And I posted about it ... (the pest catfish are the only target so it will be a "get as many as you can" comp - in fact you legally HAVE to land it and kill it if you can)

bsky.app/profile/ahaf...

Screenshot of the scoring app showing 23 pairs entered from NZ, 19 from the USA, 3 from Aus and Guam and 1 each from Singapore, Cuba, England, Portugal and China

Live scoring during the weigh-ins here: wfsc2026.netlify.app

There are some excellent New Zealand pairs entered.

The 2026 World Freshwater Spearfishing Championships officially begin TODAY at Lake Taupō! After months of preparation, athletes from around the world are here and the energy is something else — the nervousness and excitement is absolutely palpable. Registration opens from 4pm this afternoon, followed by a Whakatau welcome at 5pm. Competitors have been out scouting over the past couple of days — Moss and I included. We've been ticking off spots we won't be going to, which is just as important as finding the ones we will. With only 6 hours each competition day, you can't afford to burn time travelling between spots that aren't firing. The real action kicks off tomorrow — compulsory roll call at 7:30am, with competitors hitting the water at 8:30am. Weigh-in starts from 3:30pm, and you can follow the results LIVE on our purpose-built event app: 👉 https://wfsc2026.netlify.app/ We'll also be posting updates here on Facebook throughout the competition so stay tuned. Tonight it's all about mingling, welcoming more competitors as they arrive, and of course the great game of trying to extract local knowledge from others while giving absolutely nothing away yourself 😄 What makes this event extra special is that it's not just a World Championship — it's doing genuine good for Lake Taupō by helping eradicate an invasive pest species. Sport and conservation in one. Hard to beat. Nau mai, haere mai to all our international visitors — welcome to Aotearoa 🇳🇿

Laura and Kerry in front of the competition banner ;) I'm not sure why it's hung on the public toilet wall in the campground ...

The 2026 World Freshwater Spearfishing Championships begin today in Lake Taupo. There is a singular target species - the introduced pest catfish.

Freshwater spearfishing is big in the US hence a large number of teams have traveled from there.

Speaking of Lake Taupo ... the World Freshwater Spearfishing Championships are happening there right now.

Yeah, I knew the origin of the name for the station.

who lives in the time zone he was trying to get to ... )

This also reminded me of someone who was asking chatGPT to do time zone conversions. He didn't appreciate it when I told him that the times he had put into a customer facing doc were wrong. He showed me the chatGPT screenshot twice and I pointed out the error 3 times before he believed me (someone

When I first read this I thought they were referring to Erewhon Station
maps.app.goo.gl/52Lc1ygfEUZp...

erewhonhorsestud.co.nz

It's a nice picture.

But FYI the Waikato River runs into the Tasman Sea (from Lake Taupo) not into Lake Taupo.

The non-negotiables. * Never dive alone * One up, one down - one buddy actively watching * Fully recover between dives * Always tow a float (two lines if sharing) Your buddy is your best safety net. The best prevention? Take a certified freediving course and join a regional club. Train for it. Practice it. Respect it.

A freediver on a freediving line heading towards the surface. At the surface you can see the silhouettes of other divers watching

Some common contributors to blackouts include: * Hyperventilating instead of slow, relaxed breathing * Pushing personal limits * Losing track of time while hunting * Fatigue, dehydration, or diving hungover Small choices can stack up.

A freediver ascending from depth on a freediving line. We can see the baseplate at the end of the line and the seabed below

Blackouts are most common in shallow water or right after surfacing. As you ascend: * Pressure drops * Your lungs expand * Oxygen shifts away from the brain The final part of the dive is often the hardest - especially if you're bringing up crayfish, paua or fish.

Freediving deaths in New Zealand are rare - but even one is too many. Sadly, we had some diving-related deaths this summer. Water Safety New Zealand statistics show an average of eight people die each year in snorkelling, diving and freediving incidents. In recent years, a growing proportion of those fatalities have involved freediving - as more New Zealanders gather their own kaimoana (seafood). That’s a trend that calls for greater awareness, not fear. Most tragedies follow a blackout. And blackouts don’t just happen deep - they often happen in shallow water or right after surfacing. Our mates at Freediving New Zealand and Spearfishing New Zealand are working alongside organisations across the country to bring that number down to zero - so generations of Kiwis can safely enjoy our shores. If you freedive or spearfish in our moana, remember: ✔️Never dive alone ✔️One up, one down ✔️Recover properly between dives ✔️Tow a float ✔️Check tides, visibility and weather The ocean will always be there tomorrow. Make sure you are too. If you freedive, spearfish or know someone who does - please reshare this. It could save a life.

A freediver swimming toward the waters surface

Most freediving fatalities follow a blackout A blackout happens when oxygen levels drop too low and you suddenly lose consciousness. It can happen anywhere: * in deep water * shallow water, or * even at the surface And warning signs aren't always obvious.

The words FREEDIVING SAFETY at the top and a pic showing a freediver swimming directly down towards the seabed.

Three organisations I've had a bit to do with coming together with one message.

If you want to discuss any of this drop me a message - particularly if you are in New Zealand as I am likely to be able to connect you with the right people for training etc.

I’m a supporter of people having proper holidays and politicians should represent that too. In words as well as their own breaks (not just their own breaks).

The whole grind culture is horrible - you shouldn’t have to constantly appear to be working.

No mate, don’t even joke about that.

We (NZ) don’t want them either.

on/in/under the water than many.

Seeing dolphins is a case of putting yourself in likely places A LOT and then having a dose of luck.

I’m pleased to say I’ve seen them around 20 times and swum with them twice (they came up to me while I was in the water Spearfishing).

Although I’ve probably spent a lot more recreational time