Russian Tourist Dies After Marlborough Sounds Dive

Another foreign tourist has died in a tourism activity in New Zealand.

This latest fatality was on 6 January during a guided dive in Port Gore at the top of the South Island, part of the Marlborough Sounds which also was the scene of the dolphin boat incident in December when an Australian tourist’s legs were shredded.

It was a  58 year old Russian woman who died, she was part of a group of seven Russian divers accompanied by five diving staff who went out to explore the sunken Russian ship Mikhal Lermantov.
According to a NZ Police press release

The women entered the water to dive the wreck, however shortly afterwards returned to the boat for unknown reasons and died on board.
The cause of the woman’s death is unclear and the matter is being referred to the Coroner. A Post mortem is planned for Monday the 10th January in Christchurch.
The women is said to be an experienced diver and a member of a Russian dive club which is currently touring New Zealand diving various sites…more here

According to a report on Stuff the tourist group had been on an excursion organised by Dive Picton

In a statement Dive Picton owners, Ben and Dale Ashworth, said a paramedic and several qualified staff had attended the woman after she collapsed on their dive boat, Ruku.
“Unfortunately after a long period of resuscitation she was unable to be revived.”

The Press also published an interview with the owners

A Russian tourist who died on a Marlborough Sounds dive trip collapsed on a boat after briefly entering the water.
Dive Picton owners Ben and Dale Ashworth said the 58-year-old woman returned to their vessel, Ruku, in Port Gore after a couple of minutes in the water, and collapsed about noon on Thursday.  It was unknown why she had returned, but Ben Ashworth said her Russian colleagues had indicated she was "uncomfortable" and had to be helped on board...

 Our deepest condolences go out to the woman’s family and friends.

Adventure tourism companies were recently the subject of a wide ranging review of the industry following a large number of high profile deaths and serious accidents over the last few years in New Zealand, some of the deaths occurred during water related activities including jet boating, canyoning and river boarding.

As a result of the review adventure tourism regulations were introduced for the first time in New Zealand, however these do not fully take effect for another four years. Read New Adventure Tourism Deaths Drawn Up – 4 Year Grace Period.

In November a party of tourists from various countries was injured when their Shotover jet collided with a cliff wall and Swedish tourist died whilst swimming with dolphins in the sea off Kaikoura.
Travel Advisories About New Zealand

A number of countries have taken the precaution of issuing travel advisories to their citizens about the risks involved with visiting New Zealand. 

This is Australia’s recent release (emphasis ours)

“Many tourists safely undertake adventure activities in New Zealand. However, many adventure tourism activities have inherent risks, and there have been a number of serious accidents involving Australians and other tourists, some resulting in deaths. Some operators have been found to be negligent.Travellers need to make their own judgements about the risks involved in individual or group activities and safety standards of individual operators. We strongly recommend travellers inquire with individual operators about the safety standards adhered to, whether these standards are applied across the industry and the risks involved in the activity. We recommend travellers hold travel insurance and complementary accident or income protection insurance and understand what circumstances and activities are not covered by the policies. You should be aware that safety standards in New Zealand’s adventure tourism industry may differ between individual operators and may differ from those in Australia.” (Sept 2010)

Article in the Sydney Morning Herald - “Adventure tourism a deadly business” August 24 2010:

“NZPA
Adventure tourists are killing themselves for a good time in New Zealand.  So much so that the government is looking at tougher measures to improve safety in the industry.
During five years (July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2009) 39 people died in NZ in what are recorded as workplace activities. But the actual number is likely to be much higher as recreational deaths were not included…” read full article here

Further reading  – Our NZ Adventure Tourism Facts and Stats page


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Open Season On Freedom Campers Well Underway In New Zealand

Well it’s been a glorious start to New Zealand’s first open season for hunters of Freedom Campers.

Last February the president of the New Zealand Motor Caravan Association, Dick Waters  issued a second call for freedom campers to be “shot” if they use vans that don’t have their own toilet facilities.

Mr Waters, was reported as having said  that

“Messy freedom campers who trundle around the country in sleeper vans without toilets or self-contained utilities should be “shot”.

It followed similar comments he made in January.

At the time we said effectively declaring open season on certain types of campers wasn’t going to do much to enhance the country’s tarnished reputation for visitor safety. Read Freedom Campers “Should be Shot,” 15 February 2010.

Even if Mr Waters’ comments were meant to shock, rather than be taken literally, it may cause certain elements of NZ society to feel less than ‘gracious’ towards visitors, who may now be viewed as little more than vermin. Rednecks with guns on a mission aren’t a good combination, in any country.
How right we were, because it would seem that someone may have taken up Mr Waters on his invitation to have a crack at campers.

A couple camping in Tamatea Point in Pakawau we lucky to escape with their lives after someone ” shot at, smashed and attempted to set fire to their campervan” at 5.50 one morning,  presumably they were sleeping in it at the time.

The holidaymakers, a “44-year-old male New Zealander and a 36-year-old New Zealand-residing Chinese woman,” from Hamilton

“had earlier been verbally abused about freedom camping in the area and police say the attack may have been an “extreme, over-the-top reaction” to the practice.” Source NZ Herald

Apparently a man has been arrested in relation to the incident, charged with attempted murder and given name suppression. The Herald said that he has a holiday property on the reserve on which the campervan has been parked.

Stuff provided more in-depth coverage than the Herald, with the following information

The Tasman District Council reserve is a popular site for public beach access and there are no signs banning freedom camping.
Golden Bay residents are growing increasingly intolerant of issues posed by freedom campers which include littering and defecating in public places.
The intolerance came to a head last month when the Golden Bay Community Board made an urgent request to the Tasman District Council to have a compliance officer based in the bay to monitor problems. A council officer is monitoring the bay during January and February.
In April last year, freedom campers were forced off land near the Waitapu Bridge spot by angry Golden Bay local…more here

The have been plenty of other incidents recently where tourists have been attacked and robbed whilst using campervans but this is the first we’ve heard of where an attempt has been made to burn them out. Read Welsh Couple Left Without a Penny in New Plymouth 7 January 2011

Months from now thousands of world cup rugby fans will be descending on New Zealand, eager to hire out campervans and totally unaware of the risks they are taking by not using authorised campsites.
Neither are they aware that they will be targeted by thieves if they leave their vehicles in public car parks or on the roadside.  It would be a bit rough to loose those prized match tickets in addition to cameras, iPods, treasure holiday snaps and passports and credit cards.

We think mass public information campaigns are needed, and fast.

One to warn tourists about the dangers and how to keep themselves safe and another to encourage locals in New Zealand to have a more relaxed and accommodating attitude towards visitors.

Hug a camper today.


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Welsh Couple Left Without A Penny In New Plymouth

It must be summer in New Zealand because a couple of Welsh holidaymakers are the latest tourists to appear in another New Zealand camper-van robbery story; there have been so many of them over the years.

“Michael Wright and Amy Murphy‘s latest bit of misfortune struck when thieves broke into their van at New Plymouth’s Back Beach while they were out surfing.
Passports, bank cards, ipods, drivers licences, cameras and cash were stolen. “It was just a complete shock,” Miss Murphy said yesterday. “Now we haven’t got a penny to our names.”
The Cardiff pair found their van ransacked after they had spent an hour and a half in the late afternoon surf. “Everything was all over the place. They had been in everywhere and all through our backpacks,” Miss Murphy said.
She was surprised nobody had spotted the thieves…” source

The previous similar story we commented on was the two US soldiers Eli and Tonia Gerhard that were robbed in Kaikoura last week. The young couple were taking a well earned break from the conflict and crime of Afghanistan. They must have thought that New Zealand would have been the last place on earth where they would have been robbed blind.

A few weeks before that British couple Jake Graham and Jess Kelly were also robbed in New Plymouth when their campervan was broken into and they lost almost everything they owned. Read more here


But there have been so many of these types of robberies in New Zealand haven’t there,  you’d think that word would have got out by now?

Perhaps not.

Always  it’s the same type of belongings that are stolen (cameras, money, passports, ipods, computers) tourists are obviously rich pickings in New Zealand, a country of vast inequalities and a grinding poverty in some sectors of the community that could go unnoticed by the casual observer,  or be passed over for being “quaint.”

Tourist authorities really should be asking themselves are they doing enough to warn visitors not to leave their belongings in unattended vehicles. The problem is that there is such a widespread misconception that New Zealand is a safe, tourist friendly safe place to holiday that some people are unwittingly  leaving themselves open to theft, sometimes accompanied by assault and battery. As in the case of the French tourists who pulled-over to sleep one evening.  Read more here.

Would it take a lot to fit hidden safes or security boxes in these vehicles? or for tourists to have access to short term safety deposit boxes, rather like mailboxes at post offices? A few more signs in car parks warning about thieves would probably be a good idea too.

Other stories you may be interested in:-


Suffolk couple put emigration plans on hold after experiencing NZ’s crime:

“Today’s Herald is reporting on British couple Dean and Tabitha Forbes who lost most of their possessions whilst on a pre-emigration trip to Auckland, New Zealand…”

British Migrants Robbed:

“”An English family who came to New Zealand to make a fresh start were left with only the clothes on their backs when their motel was burgled two days after they arrived.
Dawn and Conrad Tutin and their children Stephanie, 14, and Kiel, 12, arrived from Nottingham a week ago to begin a new life in Auckland, where Mr Tutin will work for Fisher & Paykel…””

More British tourists robbed, no gold for New Plymouth:

“Earlier today we wrote about honeymooning couple Simon and Sabine Greenslade whose campervan was robbed of outside of Auckland Zoo, losing most of their holiday and honeymooning photographs amongst other possessions.
We’ve also heard about another young British couple, Jake Graham and Jess Kelly,whose campervan was also broken into and who lost almost everything they owned in New Plymouth yesterday afternoon…”

Honeymoon couple lose precious photos, no ‘gold medal’ in Auckland

US rowing team member  robbed, world rowing championships 2010 in Queenstown

Czech Tourist, Jan Fakotor, Stabbed In Motueka
English tourist mugged in Gisborne
Chilean tourist punched, robbed in Nelson
A group of students that were beaten and robbed whilst on a treasure hunt at the Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa, Northland
A series of random, unprovoked attacks in Queenstown
Previous robbery of British tourists at Kerosene Creek
Tourists robbed at Kerosene Creek
Three French tourists beaten and robbed in their campervan in Mangamuka, Northland - police have yet to resolve this crime

A family of Swiss tourists that were assaulted and racially abused in Kaitaia, Northland
Anke Kuballa and Marc Busch from Germany who were robbed in Whangarei, Northland
A family of five robbed at the roadside whilst camping in their van at Oturere Stream, 25km south of Turangi
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, Northland

Three Chinese tourists attacked and robbed at Te paki, 90 Mile Beach, Northland, 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, Northland.
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.

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