Bashed tourists won't let incident ruin trip

IN GOOD SPIRITS: American tourists Scott Kelleher (left) and Jacob Ulgenes after being discharged from Middlemore Hospital. PHOTO/NZME.

Two American tourists who were viciously assaulted less than 48 hours into their holiday say it won't ruin their time here.

"It disrupted a little bit of the Northland tour but the trip continues," said Jacob Ulgenes, 22, who spoke to the Herald at Middlemore Hospital after surgery to reconstruct his broken jaw. "It's a minor setback. We are in pretty good spirits.

"Everyone has been so apologetic, and I want people to know we're not going to judge the people of New Zealand based on an isolated incident with a couple of bad people."

Police are yet to make arrests for the attack which occurred in Paihia about 3am on Saturday.

Mr Ulgenes and Scott Kelleher, 23, only recently arrived in New Zealand.

The two roomed together at Montana Tech and recently graduated with engineering degrees. The trip is their first time out of North America.

After a night out in Paihia they returned with other travellers to the carpark outside the Bay Adventurer Backpackers, when a car pulled up.

A German woman in the group made a joke about the brightness of the car's lights, and a woman in the car became aggressive.

When Mr Ulgenes tried to calm her he was punched in the jaw by a man, one of two people who appeared to arrive in the car with the woman.

Mr Kelleher was knocked unconscious, and had stitches in a cut lip. Police and an ambulance were called. After spending the night at the Bay of Islands Hospital, Mr Ulgenes and Mr Kelleher drove to Auckland's Middlemore Hospital.

Five titanium plates and 14 screws now hold together Mr Ulgenes' jaw. He was discharged from hospital yesterday and the group were to head straight for Hobbiton, Matamata. They leave for Australia on Friday.

Northland police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said police were working through positive lines of inquiry. NZME.