Six dead on the roads, a whitebaiter missing, a woman accidentally shot and killed by a hunter as she brushed her teeth at a bush campsite in the North Island.
And two 11-year-old boys confessed to torching a Masterton recycling depot that burnt 2000 new wheelie bins and caused $300,000 damage.
Another grim start to Labour weekend in New Zealand.
Boaties and swimmers apparently heeded warnings by safety groups and no loss of life had been reported by tonight, though large numbers of people took to the water, particularly in the north of the North Island where warm sun welcomed beach goers and boaties.
The missing whitebaiter was swept out to sea by a wave near the mouth of Westland's Okarito River this morning.
Two companions were rescued but the missing man, clad in a wetsuit, was not seen again despite aerial sweeps along the coast.
Rosemary Margaret Ives, 25, lost her life when she was shot dead by a hunter while at a campsite in dense bush near Turangi in the central North island.
She was reported to have been quietly brushing her teeth when she was hit, caught in the hunter's spotlight.
Fellow campers, including her partner, fought a losing battle to save her life.
Ms Ives was a Lower Hutt secondary school teacher.
The man said to have shot her, thinking his target was a possum or a deer, will face a careless-use-of-a-firearm charge.
Police said yesterday they were "gutted" by a road death in Hawke's Bay on Friday night, the first of the long weekend, and hoped for no more.
But by tonight, the tally of dead in highway crashes had climbed to six -- still two fewer than last year's eight but with two nights and a full day yet to go.
The lowest Labour Weekend period toll since records began in 1956 was three -- in each of the years 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006.
The worst tally was 1978's 16 dead.
This weekend's road victims died in Hawke's Bay, Southland, Waikato, Kaikoura and Wanganui.
Before the Masterton fire, the two youngsters smashed 40 gravestones in a cemetery and then set the recycling depot alight.
One of them even phoned emergency services to report the blaze.
The boys have been referred to the police youth aid section.
The good news -- no one has yet been reported overwhelmed by avalanches in the South Island as the Department of Conservation warned on Friday might happen if trampers and mountaineers ventured into high risk areas.
Heavy late snow dumps and warm melt-temperatures meant an increased risk of avalanches, DOC said.
