Good News: Stories that cheered us up for the week 26 August - 1 September

A Kiwi winning the world's toughest bike race and two escaped seals are among the latest feel-good stories from RNZ.

Hamilton's frogs are one of three native frog species in Aotearoa and one of the world's most endangered. Considered nationally threatened, there are no other wild populations on the mainland as the pepeketua are heavily impacted by habitat loss, disease and predation.

After 20 years of monitoring and research, the last of the captive population were released last week from their enclosure at Zealandia following the opening of a boardwalk built to protect them from human foot traffic.

Christchurch's Joe Nation battled lightning storms, freezing conditions and avoided being eaten by wolves to win the world's toughest mountain bike race, riding through Kyrgyzstan in just six days. To make things even tougher, it was an unsupported race, meaning no crew to restock him along the way and no soliciting help from locals; any assistance had to be freely given and unplanned.

"A shepherd popped out of his yurt to see me struggling and called me over. I had some soup with his family and some bread."

Born and raised in Wellington, Max has been training in Kendo since he was 10. Six years later he became the youngest person to ever represent NZ at the World Kendo Championships, held in Italy last month.

Kendo is a noisy and physically explosive martial art, employing bamboo swords to strike parts of the body covered in armour. Lee says this is what makes the sport "unique".

NZ Kendo Federation chair Sue Lytollis said Max was one to watch.

"His dedication...and commitment to kendo is really inspiring...He goes in there, he does the job, and he gets it done."

Department of Conservation marine science adviser Dr Jody Weir says the period from June to September is commonly referred to as "seal silly season". It's the time young seals and sea lions start to explore their environment, often turning up in unexpected places.

Police had to block off a seaside road in Lower Hutt this week due to a seal pup snoozing on the warm tarmac. Another pup was rescued from a Tasman Highway by police. Upon DOC's recommendation, they wrapped the pup in a blanket and placed it into a washing basket.

However, the pup staged a daring escape.

Katherine Riddell has turned the preserving skills she learned from her grandmother into a career and now teaches people all over Aotearoa how to turn cheap seasonal produce into long-lasting culinary goodness. She says nothing beats the feeling of teaching people how to make the most of what's around them.

"It's just giving people skills and confidence just to give it a go, and then they're feeding their families." Preserving is a great way to make the most of cheap seasonal produce, she says, but people often don't know where to start.

Two enterprising small-scale farmers in the Far North have developed a unit for evaporating and distilling seawater which could fit in a large backyard or small paddock.

They have already put the prototype into production and, with merely the heat of the summer sun and the power of gravity, should be able to make 3000 bottles of water and 100 kg of salt a month.

James Moore, founder of The Taipa Salt Pig, is keen to set up a co-operative which would help others into salt and water production rather than up-scaling his own business.

While Graeme Atkins (Ngāti Porou, Rongomaiwahine) worked as a DOC ranger near Ruatoria, he discovered a wild ngutukākā plant - a seriously threatened plant species endemic only to Aotearoa.

"When you get bitten by the tree bug you sort of realise some of these plants have been here millions of years, and their existence is threatened by our actions and so there's a responsibility I feel to do something about it."

Atkins made a "last-ditch" effort to save it. The reserve surrounding his home is now filled with beautiful ngutukākā in all shades - red, pink and white. He hopes to one day see the flowers returned to their natural wild environment.