Aug 8, 2026 · 33 min · 12 segments
Australia overtakes China as Pacific's biggest aid donor. We ask what are the issues facing Cook Islands voters? And a new documentary about rugby icon Jonah Lomu premieres. But first, Kiwi climbers…
Urgent, urgent, requiring helicopter evacuation.
Cannot go forwards, cannot go backwards.
The mother of a Kiwi climber trapped in a ravine in Solomon Islands for more than a week says her son and his friend are doing well after a pretty harrowing experience.
Keanu Isakson, 25, and Luca Zilstralor, 19, were climbing the highest peak in Solomon Islands when they got stuck for eight days before being rescued on August 4.
Keanu and Luca are avid mountain climbers, and they dealt with harsh alpine weather before.
Mount Popamanasio is notorious for its heavy rain and strong winds, but it was a dry season – the central Guadalcanal has gone months with minimal rainfall.
So Denny Holl and Tana Zylstra didn't think much of it when their sons hadn't messaged them for a couple of days.
We got in one of these e-perk messages every single day, just saying, checking in, everything's fine, love you.
We had no idea that anything was wrong, just that maybe they'd forgotten.
They didn't know it at the time, but Keanu and Luca were trapped on an outcrop in a ravine.
The river below had swollen, and they dealt with waves of torrential rain and rockfalls which threatened serious injury at any moment.
They actually had been trapped for three days before they sent out the distress call, hoping to be able to figure a way out for themselves.
Keanu is employed by a skills company.
So if the boys could have gotten themselves out there using rope, that would have been happening.
But the drop from the waterfall where they were, it was just too
Urgent, urgent, requiring helicopter evacuation.
Cannot go forwards, cannot go backwards.
The mother of a Kiwi climber trapped in a ravine in Solomon Islands for more than a week says her son and his friend are doing well after a pretty harrowing experience.
Keanu Isakson, 25, and Luca Zilstralor, 19, were climbing the highest peak in Solomon Islands when they got stuck for eight days before being rescued on August 4.
Keanu and Luca are avid mountain climbers, and they dealt with harsh alpine weather before.
Mount Popamanasio is notorious for its heavy rain and strong winds, but it was a dry season – the central Guadalcanal has gone months with minimal rainfall.
So Denny Holl and Tana Zylstra didn't think much of it when their sons hadn't messaged them for a couple of days.
We got in one of these e-perk messages every single day, just saying, checking in, everything's fine, love you.
We had no idea that anything was wrong, just that maybe they'd forgotten.
They didn't know it at the time, but Keanu and Luca were trapped on an outcrop in a ravine.
The river below had swollen, and they dealt with waves of torrential rain and rockfalls which threatened serious injury at any moment.
They actually had been trapped for three days before they sent out the distress call, hoping to be able to figure a way out for themselves.
Keanu is employed by a skills company.
So if the boys could have gotten themselves out there using rope, that would have been happening.
But the drop from the waterfall where they were, it was just too
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