A visitor from Japan is trying to track down a woman who rescued his family when they struck car trouble during a holiday in Northland last year.
Clemens Zamboni, a Kiwi who has lived in Japan for the past 20 years, was taking his young son, his Japanese wife and his mum to see Tāne Mahuta last August when they got a flat tyre near Waima in South Hokianga.
"We stopped maybe 500m down the road from Waima School and honestly we were stuck, no cellphone signal, unfamiliar place and not sure what to do. The car was a rental and at first I couldn't even get the nuts off the wheel to remove it. They were on pretty tight," Zamboni said.
The stranded family was wondering what to do when a "really kind woman" came out of a nearby house to see if they needed help.
"She helped me change the tyre — to be honest she did the hard part and I just helped her — and I wrote down her address, but when we got back to Japan neither me nor my family could find it. I really want to send her something to say thanks," he said.