Maraea told the Northern Advocate she was lucky Sharnon managed to call through straightaway as, not long after the first quake, the aftershocks brought down phone transmission.
Maraea is relieved Sharnon is now in London, where she and Mr Greensmith had already planned to holiday. The earthquake meant they left a few days earlier than scheduled. Here is a letter from Sharnon:
It has been a terrible few days, and continues to be - not because of my personal situation, but because I see with my own eyes the suffering of the people and have been hearing the stories of the victims of Nepal, both locals and tourists - we are all in the same boat.
Although there are countless people dead and dying in Kathmandu city itself, it is the mountain regions of Nepal that are really suffering.
As I write this I hear helicopters packed full of injured people being transported to the overcrowded and underfunded hospitals.
One hospital has even collapsed with the patients inside. Whisky is being used to sanitise open wounds and people are being left in the corridors to sit with their pain until hospital staff can attend to them. These staff themselves have likely lost their own homes, but still they continue.
I am used to earthquakes, having lived in Japan for three years, but I had never felt an earthquake of this magnitude - 7.9 - nor one that went on for so long - 1min 15secs. I was in an open space next to the Rokpa Children's Home and heard the screams from the children.
They were quickly ferried out and we all sat there together for the next 5 hours as wave after wave of tremors hit.
I have heard from people that I met since the quake that whole villages have been laid to waste, and although the villagers are supporting each other, food is running out and water is contaminated. They are facing starvation unless we get help there.
I am very moved to see the stoic resourcefulness and patience of the Nepali people. On the whole, the Nepali people are simply getting on with what needs to be done and there is an an unbelievable amount of calm for a country facing such calamity.
My friends and I have been sleeping on a tennis court for the last three nights, with a makeshift tent above our heads. We are sleeping cheek by jowl with a multinational group.
There has been nothing but support amongst the displaced, and the most amazing thing is that not once have I heard a Tibetan or Nepali person complain about his or her lot.
I beg of you - please do donate. Soon this catastrophe will be forgotten in the global media, but those families who I stayed with in the mountains and countless others, will be exposed when the not too distant monsoons come, and the harsh winter after that. Without aid, they are not likely to survive.