Lost camera saga has happy ending

Alison Herft in Wellington with a photograph of her in Edinburgh taken with the returned camera. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A New Zealand woman and her missing camera will be reunited - four years after it went missing in the Scottish wilderness.

Alison Herft, from Wellington, lost her Canon Powershot S90 in 2010 after a mountain climb during a holiday in Scotland with her husband Keith.

She contacted the Herald after seeing herself in a photo in yesterday's report "Camera left in the UK seeks Kiwi owner".

The picture was taken outside the Edinburgh Museum, said Mrs Herft who works at the Sustainable Business Council.

"We've been living in London and we went to Scotland for a holiday and had been walking around the mountains," she said. "The camera must have fallen out of the bag when we were walking down from Ben Nevis and I never thought I'd see it again."

The camera contained "precious memories".

"I'd really like to thank the folks who found it and the people who brought it back" she said.

Rina Crawford, who was visiting Northern Ireland in August with her husband George, was handed the camera and asked to help return it to its owners. A church friend of Mr Crawford's mother, Jacqueline Mulligan, had found the camera while visiting a campsite in Scotland. Campsite staff were able to identify the family in the photos as Kiwi guests but did not have any contact information.

Mrs Mulligan wrote an accompanying note requesting to be informed when the camera was returned to its rightful owner. "We walked down by the river when I stepped on your camera," Mrs Mulligan wrote. "I was fortunately able to meet the mother of the gentleman who lives in New Zealand, so hopefully you will be able to get your camera back after all these years."

Although hopeful, Mrs Crawford said she didn't think the owner would be found when she approached the Herald. "Well, I guess New Zealand is kind of little after all ... it's really amazing," she said yesterday.