Two American Tourists Attacked In Rotorua

4 days after the event the press eventually found out that a young American couple were attacked and robbed in Rotorua on Saturday night. The thugs responsible for the attack  - all teenagers (the youngest is 14) have appeared in court over the last two days and the tourists are now safely away from further media attention. This appeared in today's Herald and followed a story published yesterday by 3 News and Stuff

"Three teenagers have been charged with aggravated robbery after two American visitors were attacked in Rotorua. The tourists, a man and a woman in their early 20s, were set upon near Rangiuru St late on Saturday night. 

They were bruised and scratched and their belongings were stolen, police said.
An 18-year-old youth and a 14-year-old boy appeared in the Rotorua Youth Court yesterday and were remanded.A 17-year-old youth will appear in the Youth Court today."

The names, or town of origin, for the tourists have not been released.

View Larger Map, Rangiuru Street near to where the attack took place
The attack has drawn surprisingly little attention from the public, warranting but a single comment on the 3News website by "Dan"

"Shame on our youth. The recent incidents relating to tourists have started a huge decline in numbers of inbound tourists as well as tourism dollars which are crucial for our economy. Wonder what the politicians and police are going to do about this. The law needs to be amended drastically with regards to the punishment handed out if arrested."

Unfortunately incidents such as these are not isolated, nor uncommon. On November 30 a group of "international tourists" (details of their nationality were never released) were attacked and robbed whilst they bathed at Kerosene Creek, 35km south of Rotorua. see blog post Tourists robbed. 

Other tourist attacks and robberies include

Two German tourists attacked in Paihia, Northland

Two American tourists were robbed at Shipwreck Bay in Northland whilst sandboarding

Asian woman, (probably Japanese) age 22, raped in her room by 2 teenagers in a home invasion in Opotiki

Three Chinese tourists attacked and robbed at Te paki, 90 Mile Beach by two men they'd stopped to help

French tourist Anthony Cressend, beaten and robbed at campsite in Ahipara, Northland

Two Australian tourists robbed at knifepoint for their holiday money in Te Puke, SE of Tauranga.

Japanese tourist age 23 (female) kidnapped, robbed and assaulted in Rotorua by four men

French tourist (male) raped at gunpoint near Opotiki

American peace corp twins Adam and Alex Rahmlow, 21 were robbed of all their possessions by a man they tried to help in Amberley, Christchurch.

Dutch couple raped and robbed on a campsite in Tuatapere, NW of Invercargill, whilst on their honeymoon. (Dutch govt. issued a travel warning about NZ)

Two Koreans were attacked and robbed of their possession which included a laptop computer by a man claiming to be a gang member in Blenheim.

British tourist worker sexually assaulted near Hururu Falls, Northland when she was dragged off a walking track.

Canadian tourist Jeremie Kawerninski, kidnapped, assaulted and robbed in Lower Hutt, Wellington

Dutch couple robbed and sexually attacked Haruru Falls, Northland whilst on honeymoon.

Two British women robbed and raped in their campervan at Tokomaru Bay, north of Gisborne.

Japanese tourist subjected to a prolonged and brutal sex attack in a communal area of a backpacker's hostel in Turangi, Taupo.

Scottish woman Karen Aim brutally murdered by a youth in Taupo.

German woman Birgit Brauer murdered near New Plymouth.

Korean man Jae Hyeon Kim decapitated with a spade by white supremacist.

Japanese tourist robbed at gunpoint in Oamaru.

Irish cycle tourist Paul Mack bashed, robbed and urinated on throughout his NZ tour.

6 English and Danish tourists attacked and stabbed in Cashel Mall, Christchurch for having "foreign accents."

Irish man Robby O'Brien beaten up in Westport.

Russian couple Denis Khotchenko and Lera Nesterova beaten and robbed in Milford, Auckland

English woman knifed and sexually assaulted in a toilet block at an A1 motor camp in Kaikoura

American campers Patrick Dykstra and Kelsey McGinley beaten and robbed at Whangarei Falls.

Australian tourist sexually assaulted on a street in broad daylight in Nelson.

Australian tourist subjected to a sex attack by Maia Crawford Rongonui whilst walking home to a backpackers in Christchurch.

Canadian tourist left with a fractured skull outside Silver Fern backpackers in Taupo.

Dutch tourist beaten and robbed at Lake Rotorua.

British man Paul Speakman and his young son beaten and robbed in a campervan at Athenree Gorge, Katikati.

Chinese woman attacked for speaking Chinese on a train approaching Petone.

Scottish visitor Stuart Martin who was left in a coma and with a boot print on his face after a street bashing in Taradale, Christchurch.

Pretty shocking for a country as small as New Zealand. But these are just some of the crimes that make it as far as the news, true figures for tourist assaults and robberies either aren't gathered or they're not released. Who can tell how bad the problem is? and if a problem isn't measured how can it ever be  resolved?

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German Cyclist Killed In Bulls, Manawatu

Today we heard the awful news that another tourist has been killed on New Zealand's roads.

A 19 year old woman on a cycling holiday from Germany died after she was hit by a truck on State Highway 3 approxmiately 4km north of Bulls, Manawatu between the junctions with Neumans Line and Stantoft Road. Our thoughts are with her family at this difficult time.

View Larger Map
Her death came days after American journalist Deborah Howell was killed near Springs Creek.

Related posts :
Dead German cyclist named as Mia Susanne Pusch

Facebook group set up in memory of Mia Pusch

Another German Cyclist killed in March - Stephan Stoermer


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More On The Tragic Death of Deborah Howell

The Marlborough Express has published further details about the tragic death of American journalist Deborah Howell, who died after being struck by a car near Blenheim on Saturday. Her husband said they were being transferred to accommodation by Marlborough Travel when his wife asked the driver to stop, because she wanted to take a photograph on Rapaura Rd:

The husband of a leading United States journalist killed while holidaying in Marlborough says his wife always told him to face reporters if anything happened to her. Former Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell, 68, a veteran newspaper editor, was fatally injured when she was struck by a car on Rapaura Rd, near Spring Creek, north of Blenheim, about 12.10pm Saturday.

She had stepped out of the car she was in to take a photograph when she was hit by an oncoming vehicle. Her husband, Peter Magrath, said he believed she was not used to cars driving on the left, and had looked the wrong way.

Sergeant Dan Mattison, of Blenheim, said Ms Howell was taken to Wairau Hospital by Blenheim St John Ambulance with serious injuries. She died soon after.

Mr Magrath, a former University of Minnesota president, agreed to talk to The Marlborough Express, because his wife always told him to face reporters. "You don't have to answer questions, but I would dishonour her if I didn't talk to reporters," Mr Magrath said"....read more here

Later news reports stated that the driver of the car that struck Ms Howell was not from the area. Police are investigating whether there are ground for charging her. The most common charge was likely to be careless driving causing death.

According to the report in the  Marlborough Express

"Rapaura Rd, also known as State Highway 62, has previously been labelled the most dangerous stretch of highway in New Zealand.


While the 12.7-kilometre stretch has a relatively low traffic volume, it was the scene of four fatal crashes and two serious injury crashes from 2002 to 2006."

 See also The disturbing toll on New Zealand's roads - The AA wants the Government to put more effort into studying the factors that lead to crashes.


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Spanish Tourists Not To Blame For Fatal Accident

The Northern Advocate has published a story confirming that Spanish tourists were not at fault in a fatal accident on state highway 1, 4km north of Towai (the road between Whangarei and Paihia) on December 22.

Joan Roma Serra and his partner Eva Fajula Rovira from Torello, a town  in  Catalonia, were both 34 years old, died when the camper van they were driving hit a truck and trailer head-on.

Very often tourists are too easily blamed for road smashes in NZ - either because of their inexperience of local driving conditions or because they're affected by jet-lag. It's good to see accident investigators managing to look beyond the nationality of the driver before reaching a conclusion as to the cause of an 'accident'. On this occasion the visitors were simply "in the wrong place at the wrong time" as it seems the truck was on their side of the road.

The stretch of road in question was said to be notorious among truck drivers, many of whom were wary of it. A temporary 70 km/hr limit has now been imposed "uneven surface" warning signs have been put up, why this didn't happen sooner is a mystery, perhaps the tourists' deaths may have been avoided if they had been. Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of the deceased couple for their sad loss.

Very often the nationality of tourists killed or injured on the roads isn't released  to the media and there seems to be no official data on the numbers of tourists involved every year, or of the types of vehicles they were driving. The true extent of the carnage may not be realised.

The last time we heard of Spanish tourists being injured was in August when a family, also travelling in a camper van, were injured in a smash in the Lindis Pass in Cantebury. The same month a French honeymooning couple were injured when their camper van collided with a logging truck north of Napier.

In another fatal smash in Northland in March two Swedish tourists were killed south of Whangarei just hours after they arrived in New Zealand (see blog post) at the time Whangarei police Sergeant Chris Goodall said the road had a "decided history of loss of control accident whenever it rains." and that although the road was three lanes wide there was a tendency for people to "fall off" and to lose concentration. The deceased were later named as 20 year old  Emelie Jenny Green and Theresia Andrea Johansson.  

According to the Herald it was the second fatal accident in the area in two days. Robert Watene, 22, died when his car and a truck collided on State Highway 1 near the Waipu turnoff, about 30km north of the Brynderwyn Hills.

In other posts we've highlighted on many occasions that according to AA information

• New Zealand's Road Safety to 2010 strategy forecasts that 42 lives a year could be saved by improvements in road engineering.
• Installing rumble strips on roads can reduce crashes by up to 27% by preventing run-off-road and head-on collisions.
• Installing a barrier along an embankment can reduce run-off-road casualty crashes by as much as 45%.

Yet scores of crashes are still occurring. Even though accident blackspots are well known about deaths and serious injuries are still happening. What will it take to reduce the carnage on New Zealand's roads?

Thinking of driving in NZ? See 'Accident Blackspots':  what a few of NZ's more infamous and unforgiving black spots look like.


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American Journalist Deborah Howell Dies On NZ Roadside

A well known and respected American journalist  Deborah Howell has been hit and killed whilst on holiday in New Zealand. Ms Howell died yesterday after a car hit her on Cravens Road, near Spring Creek at around 12.10pm, she was one of eleven people to die on NZ roads over the holiday period.  Deborah Howell was a former Washington Post ombudsman and one of the first women to lead a major U.S. newspaper. She will be greatly missed.

View Larger Map, general view of Cravens Road
Ms Howell was traveling in New Zealand on vacation with her husband, C. Peter Magrath, at the time of the accident. Her stepson Nick Coleman said Howell suffered fatal injuries when struck by a vehicle. She lived in Glen Echo (source Washington Post)

In March University of Washington student, 22 year old Celia Kelly, died when a Toyota carrying her and four others collided head-on with a Honda near Taupo, New Zealand. Celia was sitting on a back seat and was killed instantly.

On November 10 a 61 year old American tourist and his female passenger were injured when their car collided with a petrol tanker whilst both vehicles were travelling south on Highway 6, between Frankton and Jack's Point at around 8:45 am . The driver had to cut free from the wreckage.

American Rita Zaross, 62, died in a head on crash between two cars in Northland and countless others have been killed and injured over the years, official figures for tourist road casualties aren't available.

New Zealand has an appalling record for deaths and injuries on its roads, which are particularly dangerous for cyclists, see Charity cyclists shocked at NZ's dangerous roads - a blog written by Wouter Van Wezemael who tried to cycle the length of NZ with his family but found it far too hazardous.
see also posts tagged
' Dangerous Roads'
'Accident Blackspots'



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NZ Outdoor Guiding Industry Failing To Manage Risks Properly

A reporter writing for the New Zealand Herald newspaper has used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a report into the death of Anton Wopereis on New Year's Day 2008.

Mr Wopereis, aged 54, was an an internationally qualified guide contracted to Aspiring Guides. He died after falling from the Summit Rocks of Mt Cook when a slab of snow and ice collapsed. He and his client were attached by a 60m rope to an anchor fixed to the mountainside.

For an unknown reason he chose to climb above the anchor without asking his client to belay him, if he had have done this he wouldn't have fallen for the full 60 metre rope length before coming to rest below his client. The absence of work safety assessment detailing where and where there was a need to belay seemed to be central to the criticism made in the report. According to Martin Jonston's article in the Herald:

"the report says, the likelihood of serious harm is "factored in" by the industry as part of an approach based on risk management. This "tacit failure" to fully comply with the Health and Safety in Employment Act is a "lost opportunity" for the industry.

But guides say eliminating all the hazards would kill the industry.
"There needs to be recognition that there is inherent risk in adventure tourism, and managing those risks as opposed to trying to eliminate them," said Aspiring Guides' chief guide, Whitney Thurlow.
"It's easy to eliminate them totally and not go. But we choose to go; we choose to put ourselves in harm's way...

The report ... highlights the conflict between the requirement for employers and the self-employed to take all practicable steps to prevent harm - and the risks that are part of the attraction of adventure activities such as mountaineering.
A department spokesman said this issue would be covered by the review of adventure and outdoor tourism ordered by Prime Minister John Key and scheduled to report by March 31."

Our readers will remember that this report has already been pushed back by two months because of what looked like a lack of 'buy-in' by the adventure tourism industry, most of whom appear to be incredibly resistant to change, despite 7 prosecutions being brought during 2009 for deaths and injuries within the industry. As far as we are aware every company that has been prosecuted has 'escaped' with a fine and all are still trading, some have even announced expansion plans. No-one has yet served time for corporate manslaughter.

Why should they change? the money is still rolling in even though people are being killed and injured.

And so long as the present regulatory system persists we forecast that the situation will not change. Adventure tourism brings billions of dollars into the New Zealand economy every year and no-one wants to risk upsetting that applecart. But nobody seems to be asking will more visitors will come if the industry is considered to be safer?. There is an lost opportunity here for NZ to lead the world in safe and exciting adventure tourism.

Three outcomes we'd like to see from the report are

• Better protection of employees and the public through by more comprehensive and well managed risk control strategies, bench marked against international standards. These procedures should  be reviewed regularly to ensure they're effective.

• Less reliance on ACC to pick up the tab and more muscle exerted by insurance companies on higher risk activities

• Heavier penalties for operators who fail to manage risks properly, including closing down operators who are considered to be unsafe and imposing manslaughter charges where applicable. Revenue raised through fines should be returned to the industry to further improve safety standards.

See also: 
Emily Jordans father writes to John Key: Safety regulations are 'third world'
Alpine dangers easy to overlook - Mount Cook's death toll well over 200 climbers and trampers (Feb 2007)





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Migrant Stories - Making Ends Meet

Continuing our series of Migrant Stories. This well written post was published on an on-line immigration support forum. It's a not unusual example of how many skilled migrants from Western countries (in this case Britain) find life in New Zealand's low wage/high house price economy a struggle, despite their very best efforts they cannot find a way to make ends meet.

"Below Rock Bottom
I always thought reaching "rock bottom" was the lowest point. Not so. I know this as I am currently sitting in the place that is below the rock. And its not pleasant.

Contradictory as it may sound, I love New Zealand although it has proved to be big money sucking leach. I scrimp, I juggle, I do all the cost-cutting things I can to try and make ends meet and I usually try and keep a fairly positive outlook, count my blessings, tell myself it can only get better and am grateful for what we do have. But today Positive has taken a well earned vacation and has left Reality and Hardship for me to babysit. They are both a real pain, hard work during the day, refuse to sleep at night and, as it turns out, they cry a lot. They play mean games and are generally not nice to be around.

Today Reality and Hardship decided we should play the money game. They won and as a result I'm over my overdraft limit and I've nothing to buy food with. The kids are on school holidays and I've no money for petrol to take them anywhere, no money to even get stuff for a basic picnic so's we could just walk or bike somewhere and the pantry is looking fairly bare. I wish Positive was here - she would say, well look on the bright side - at least you can give the shelves a good clean now they're empty, eh?

I've just come off the phone to the pension company. My last chance saloon. Apparently it's where Hardship hangs out a lot. They can send me a form so I can claim Hardship resides with me and possibly release some of my money - for a 55% penalty (not having 5 tax years clear of UK).

Not the best start to the new year. I thought after having a diabolical 2009 things could only get better. However, as I type I'm nursing Hope who is on her deathbed and I've had no word from Positive to say when she might be returning."


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