No fond memories of NZ

HOLIDAY SPOILED: French tourists Baptiste Delestre and Noemie Rivaux, whose travel plans were in disarray after a thief broke into their van.

French tourists Baptiste Delestre and Noemie Rivaux had been planning to fly to Australia today, to continue a seven-month holiday on the other side of the world from their home near Lille, north of Paris, but it is unlikely they will make their flight from Auckland.

Baptiste, a physiotherapist, and Noemie, a trainee primary teacher, lost their passports, along with almost everything else but the clothes they were wearing, when they left their van in the carpark at Kerikeri's Rainbow Falls (Waianiwaniwa) on Sunday afternoon, and were having trouble obtaining new ones.

The experience had spoiled their time in New Zealand, Noemie said, and she and Baptiste were clearly keen to move across the Tasman.

They had taken note of the carpark sign, which gave a warning to the effect of 'Lock it or lose it,' she added, but that had not protected them. In the 10 minutes that the vehicle was unattended (a little before 4pm) the thief jemmied a window, broke a lock and took their passports, credit cards, cash, a phone, a camera, two backpacks and their clothes.

They had begun their tour of New Zealand in Christchurch, making their way north, and had no problems until they reached the Bay of Islands.

They did have insurance, and were waiting for Monday morning in France to make contact, but the police in Kerikeri and Kaitaia, while sympathetic, had given them little cause to hope that their property might be recovered, and the French embassy in Wellington wasn't proving especially helpful either.

Embassy staff wanted to wait to see if their passports were recovered before issuing new ones, which would necessitate a trip to Wellington then returning to Auckland for their flight to Australia.

Their first priority, after arriving in Kaitaia on Monday, was to change their flight, to at least give them time to obtain new documents and credit cards.

They had met some nice people, Noemie said, not least Kaitaia's Le'Vaillant family, who gave them somewhere to stay while they sorted themselves out, but they would be leaving New Zealand with a very negative impression.