KEY POINTS:
He survived seven days being held captive at gunpoint by Nigerian rebels. Now, when released oil-field worker Brent Goddard gets home, he has to deal with his partner.
"He is going to get his arse kicked when he gets home," his relieved partner Gill Sannazzaro says from their
Titahi Bay home.
Mr Goddard, 49, was working as a mechanic for the Lone Star Drilling Company on a Shell oil exploration platform in the Niger Delta.
He, fellow New Zealander Bruce Klenner, 47, of New Plymouth, and four others on the rig were taken hostage at gunpoint last Wednesday.
Seven days later, in the early hours of yesterday NZ time, the two New Zealanders, with Australian Jason Lane, Lebanese George Saliba and Venezuelan Andres Gamboa, were released.
At 1.41am, Lone Star's general manager David "Herb" Hooper rang her, telling of Mr Goddard's release.
"He just said 'The boys are free'. He had to tell me three times because I just couldn't comprehend it," Ms Sannazzaro said.
The first words Mr Goddard said to her on his release were "Hi doll, hi sweetie. I love you", she said.
Now, he was on his way back. "It has been totally insane - like we've been on a rollercoaster for the last seven days. Now it feels like we've come to the flat bit at the end," she said.
Waiting for her partner to get home was the longest wait so far, she said.
"It was just unbelievable. I just want him home. I don't have any tears left."
"He has done this for years. He flew in on the 20th of June. On June 26 he was waiting for the helicopter to take him to the rig ... "
She stops, interrupted by tears.
"He is Indiana Jones, a good Kiwi bloke. He has a passion for life. He loves his outdoors, his fishing," she said.
They were aware of the situation and the risks of working in Nigeria, she said.
"We talked at length before he went. I said I would support him no matter what. It just meant there were different perspectives to take into account," she said.
Telephones ring constantly, answered by Ms Sannazzaro's friend Rebecca Leracy and daughter Natasha.
"Life goes on. Brent would not have wanted us to stop what we are doing, wallowing in pity with the 'poor mes'."
More than 150 foreigners have been seized in the oil-rich country so far this year, including a woman and a child - nearly the total for all of last year.
- NZPA