Family members on both sides of the Tasman are mourning the deaths of two cousins, aged four and six, after the utility terrain vehicle they were on crashed and tumbled into a stream on Friday.
Photo: 123rf

A tragedy in the Far North that claimed the lives of cousins aged four and six has plunged whānau on both sides of the Tasman into unimaginable grief, a family member says.

The boys, from Perth and Auckland, were holidaying on their grandmother’s farm at Peria when the utility terrain vehicle they were in hit a boulder and tumbled into a stream on 29 December.

The driver and three other passengers survived with moderate injuries.

An online fundraiser, set up to assist the two families with repatriation and funeral costs, described the boys as irreplaceable lights whose loss had shattered hearts beyond repair.

Hapū in the Far North have placed a rāhui, which prohibits swimming and fishing, on the stream where the boys died.

It applies to the Waikainga Steam at Peria, from Shepherd Road to the saleyards bridge.

The restrictions are due to be lifted on 7 January.