The Good, The Bad and The Ugly That You Might've Missed Over The Summer Break!

Just tuning back in? Yep it's 2024 and already you might've missed some of the best moments of the year!

It's no secret that 99% of our great nation completely shuts down for two weeks over the summer break and whilst our feet were up enjoying a couple cold beers in the hot sun...there were some epic (and not so epic) stories happening not only in New Zealand but all around the world.

Here is 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly That You Might've Missed Over The Summer Break!'

The 16 Year Old Brit Who Took The Darts World By Storm!

In the past fortnight, 16-year-old Luke "The Nuke" Littler has achieved a feat which is limited to most grizzled darts veteran's dreams. Littler was the runner up of the World Darts Championships in London and lost only to the current world number 1 Luke Humphries.

Littler's efforts have made the sport of darts a global phenomenon as of late and the 16-year-old's courageous efforts at the tournament have already left a legacy for aspiring young sportspeople around the world. 

Littler walked away with a whopping £200,000 Pounds ($407,873 NZD) and in an interview stated the only thing he currently wants to spend his winnings on is FIFA Points... a currency used to trade in the popular online football game FIFA.

David Warner Will Never Play For Australia Again..

After a career riddled with controversy and hatred (mainly from Kiwis, Poms and The Alternative Commentary Collective's Social Media Account), David Warner is retiring from Test and ODI cricket. The left hander will go down as one of the greatest Australian opening batsmen of all time however a large dark cloud from 2018's sandpaper gate will always be remembered by fans.

If you don't remember, here's a refresher... in March 2018, during the third Test against South Africa,  Cam Bancroft was caught by television cameras trying to rough up one side of the ball with sandpaper to make it  swing. Captain Steve Smith and Vice David Warner were both found to be involved with the incident and both received lengthy bans.

In one last scandal for Warner, he lost his Baggy Green in the lead up to his final test and took to Instagram to slander Qantas as a plea to find the 'misplaced' hat...

As the Test got underway the backpack remained MIA, that is until Thursday night when it was found at the team hotel in Sydney with all the contents inside.

In one final final act of wounding from Warner, he organised his own farewell party with a performance from Australian pop star Tones & I, famous for her well known tune "Dance Monkey"... enjoy retirement Davey Dumb Dumb!

Three Backbones Saved a Fisherman Who Had Been Floating At Sea For 24 Hours

In one of the more heroic stories of summer, three young Kiwis Max White, James McDonnell and Tyler Taffs were fishing near Mayor Island in the Coromandel when they came across a man who had been floating in the sea for 24 hours after falling off his boat.

Cambridge 61-year-old Will Fransen said he tried and failed multiple times to catch the attention of passing boats after he fell overboard, and was “pessimistic” from the start at his chances of survival off Whangamatā and the Coromandel Peninsula.

Fransen had set off on a solo fishing trip on January 2 on his 12m boat, with plans to return the next day. He had hooked and tagged a marlin and was about to release it back into the ocean when everything went horribly wrong.

Fransen told the NZ Herald he encountered a shark "about three metres long" whilst he was in the water which "easily could've finished him". It was a miracle the lads found Fransen and rescued him safely back to shore.

This article was first published by the NZHerald.co.nz

Australian Band Ocean Alley Had A Bit Too Much "Confidence" In Queenstown...

Successful Australian surf rock band "Ocean Alley" has been on tour across Aotearoa over summer and whilst they were in Queenstown for their headline set at Rhythm & Alps vocalist and keyboardist, Lachlan Galbraith was spotted stealing a Yeti drink bottle lid from the Hunting and Fishing store...

After being caught on video, and called out by the store and fans, Galbraith took to Instagram to apologise.

“Yesterday in an act of complete foolishness, I stole a drink bottle lid from Queenstown Hunting & Fishing,” he said.

The situation was remedied and Hunting & Fishing Queenstown announced this on Facebook!

Tennis Fever Has Hit Auckland And The JAFA's Are Fizzing!

Once a year, New Zealanders (mainly from upper class Auckland) have all eyes on Stanley Street in Parnell for the ASB Classic. The 13 day event includes some of the biggest global stars in the mens and womens tournament, as well as some illustrious fashion outfits from MUMM-sipping JAFA's sitting courtside in the sun...

The tournament is a great display for the country and tournament director Nicholas Lamperin describes the corporate services at Auckland’s ATP and WTA tennis events as being 'unmatched around the world'.

Corporate dining aside, it was incredible to see the 19-year-old superstar Coco Gauff win back to back titles, being only the 4th person to ever do so at the Auckland tournament.

The men's tournament kicked off yesterday and day one saw fan favourite Frenchman Gael Monfils get knocked out in the first round. The tournament kicks into gear over the next few days, with all of the top seeds in action and a huge final anticipated for Saturday.

The final few tickets are available to buy here

The New Zealand Summer Of Cricket Has Once Again Been Put On Hold By Mother Nature

Bangladesh's tour of New Zealand was once again heavily affected by an unfortunate influx of rain around the country over the summer break. Three of the six matches were affected by rain and two of the other matches the Bangers' won convincingly...

In a more positive note, The Blackcaps have named a full strength side to take on Pakistan with pace bowler Matt Henry, captain Kane Williamson and opening batter Devon Conway returning for the series after periods of rest following their return from the Bangladesh Test tour.

The T20i series against Pakistan kicks off this Friday night at Eden Park in Auckland and you can buy tickets here