HB couple cheated wave twice

Marty Sharpe and Peter Gaston
Two former Hawke's Bay couples have had lucky escapes from the devastating Asian tsunami.
While thousands died around them, Stephanie Edwards and Mark Hooker cheated death twice in a matter of minutes at the Thai holiday resort of Kohlanta on Boxing Day.
Stephanie, a former Central Hawke's Bay College student and Mark, who attended Hastings Boys' High School, who both work in Kuala Lumper, went to the holiday resort for their Christmas break and had planned to go to Phi Phi Island, one of the worst-affected resorts.
But, according to an aunt, Anne Gower, of Hastings, they missed being trapped in the famed Emporer's Cave by minutes when the huge earthquake struck, causing a huge tsunami which devastated coastal areas in 10 countries.
Then their quick-thinking kayak guide got them sheltered behind a protective sea wall when the tsunami slammed into the resort.
The pair, who have worked in Kuala Lumpur for 2 1/2 years, had hired kayaks and were paddling out to the Emporer's Cave when the earthquake occurred.
If they had been 10 minutes earlier Stephanie, a teacher, and Mark, who works for the New Zealand Sports Turf Institute, would have been trapped in the cave.
They had only just returned to the resort a short time later when their guide saw the tidal wave heading toward the shore. He virtually threw them over a sea wall - an action that probably saved their lives.
After the sea subsided, the couple went to higher ground and only came down when it was time to go to the airport for the flight back to Kuala Lumpur.
Mrs Gower said the couple told her of the horrific sights at the airport.
"Many of the people there had not had their injuries treated. Some had broken bones sticking out, others had cuts and bruises," she said.
Many were still in hospital clothing. Some were so traumatised by their injuries and what had happened around them that they simply had a sticker stuck to their hospital clothing with only the name of the country they were from on it, she said.
Now the pair are back at Kuala Lumpur they cannot believe their luck.
Another Hawke's Bay family, the Cunninghams, who were based in northern Thailand, had left the coastal resort of Phuket a day before the deadly Boxing Day tsunami.
Tony and Joanna Cunningham and their sons Chris, 2, and Daniel, 9, telephoned Tony's father, Ashley, on December 27 to let him know they were safe and well.
The Cunninghams have lived and worked in Thailand since 1997. For the last two years they have worked with the Christian-run Candlelight Community Based Rehabilitation Project in the mountain town of Sangklaburi, near the border with Burma.
"They like to go down to the coast once a year. Normally they go to the eastern side, but this year, for a change, they spent a week at Phuket," Ashley Cunningham said.
The family had heard about the disaster only after they returned to Sangklaburi.
"They don't have electricity where they live, so they have to type their e-mails out on disc and have someone take it to a nearby village to send," he said.
The Cunninghams were last in Hawke's Bay in February last year, when they gave a talk on their work at the Christian Outreach Centre in Onekawa.
* Two parties of three Hawke's Bay tourists in Sri Lanka have contacted the Napier Flight Centre and said they were safe.