The Devil's Punchbowl track at Arthurs Pass was a bitter road for Graham and Claudia Scott yesterday.
As a family, children Carla and Justina in tow, they spent their holidays in the Arthurs Pass village, climbing the hill every year for more than 20 years.
Yesterday, they broke 12 agonising days of
waiting to walk half way up the track to see 26-year-old Carla's final resting place.
Her body was found by trampers submerged in a pool of water below the Devil's Punchbowl falls on Sunday night.
"It's an end, it's closure, but it wasn't the closure we wanted," Ms Scott's father, Graham, said.
The family had spent more than 10 days in the Arthurs Pass village with friends and family from all over the world.
The Christchurch schoolteacher was last seen on October 5. Her car was found two days later at the Punchbowl carpark. Her body was eventually found 350 metres away. Senior Sergeant Stewart Munro said she probably slipped into the water while out walking.
- NZPA
