{"id":557119,"date":"2026-08-03T05:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T05:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/557119\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T05:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T05:12:13","slug":"two-new-zealand-hikers-trapped-on-solomon-islands-highest-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/557119\/","title":{"rendered":"Two New Zealand hikers trapped on Solomon Islands\u2019 highest mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"

They have enough supplies for now, but the weather is not expected to improve any time soon, leaving their parents feeling \u201cterrible\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re extremely worried… you feel helpless. There\u2019s nothing you can do,\u201d Zylstra said. <\/p>\n

\"MtMt Popomanaseu is the highest mountain in the Solomon Islands. Photo \/ Google Earth<\/p>\n

The Solomon Islands Meteorological Service is forecasting showers, isolated thunderstorms and strong winds for the Guadalcanal Province, where the mountain is located. <\/p>\n

May to October is the dry season in the country.<\/p>\n

Zylstra and Isaksson\u2019s mother, Denise Holl, have kept in contact with their sons with a few messages, as that is all the trampers can manage to send. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just, you know, told them to stay put. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey can\u2019t go anywhere anyway. So they\u2019re basically just holed up trying to, you know, stay dry and just trying to survive\u201d, Zylstra said.<\/p>\n

From the minimal contact they have had with their children, they sound desperate to be rescued, she added. <\/p>\n

\"LucaLuca Zylstra-Law and Keanu Isaksson have been stuck on Mt Popomanaseu in the Solomon Islands for four days.<\/p>\n

The stranded hikers have contacted the rescue helicopter in the Solomon Islands, but resources in the country are limited. <\/p>\n

The helicopter cannot land on the steep terrain, and it does not have a winch to get them out.<\/p>\n

Zylstra and Holl have \u201cexhausted all standard diplomatic and local channels\u201d and are now appealing to the New Zealand and Australian governments to provide support. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re [local authorities] doing what they can but they just need sources to come in from Australia or New Zealand… people who are experienced enough to go in and retrieve them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to the families of two New Zealanders in the Solomon Islands. <\/p>\n

\u2018In love with the planet\u2019 <\/p>\n

Isaksson and Zylstra-Law grew up together as neighbours in Matakana, north of Auckland, and shared a love for the outdoors.<\/p>\n

They travelled to the Solomon Islands to go on a hiking expedition on the mountain, on which they are now trapped. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re both kids that are, really in love with the planet,\u201d Holl said. <\/p>\n

\"NewNew Zealanders Luca Zylstra-Law (19) and Keanu Isaksson (25) are trapped on the highest peak in the Solomon Islands.<\/p>\n

The pair researched the local flora and fauna before departing, and hoped to find rare plants and animals on their trip. <\/p>\n

\u201cBasically they, they love tramping and trekking and have both done extensive treks and tramps throughout New Zealand,\u201d Zylstra said. <\/p>\n

Hearing that they needed rescue was the last thing the mothers expected to hear, given their wilderness experience, she said. <\/p>\n

Emergency services can see the hikers\u2019 exact location through their locator beacon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They have enough supplies for now, but the weather is not expected to improve any time soon, leaving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4729,20940,3096,21524,117,111,43,139,69,90,39309,8528,1237,4741,80,24750],"class_list":["post-557119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-highest","tag-hikers","tag-islands","tag-mountain","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-solomon","tag-trapped","tag-two","tag-young","tag-zealand","tag-zealanders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}