Little Alysha lived life to full

Alysha Webster was a bubbly, determined little girl who lived life to the full, members of the tiny community of Whenuakite, near Whitianga, said yesterday.

Alysha, whose parents Grant and Sheree own a dairy farm in the area, was in Year 3 at Whenuakite Primary. Principal Jamie Marsden said she was a great student and would be sorely missed.

"She was a very bubbly personality, a very determined little girl," he said.

Alysha loved swimming, dancing, and her school work.

The school's 130 pupils spent yesterday paying tribute in cards and letters to the 7-year-old. They were told Alysha was bitten by a shark, but that she probably would not have known what happened.

A special education trauma team was at the school in the morning to help them deal with the shock.

Alysha's teacher, Barbara Harvey, struggled to hold back tears as she recalled her student.

She described the little girl as bubbly, determined and "just so involved in everything".

Mrs Harvey said Alysha did not have a favourite subject but was "very creative in her work".

Alysha's sister Jessica, 9, was in the same class.

Mrs Harvey said the two had been excited about the trip to Vanuatu since the beginning of the year.

She said it would take a while for everyone to come to terms with Alysha's death but they were trying to remember happy times.

"We've had a good day, lots of crying but lots of laughter."

Close family friend Dallas Finnerty spoke to the Websters yesterday afternoon on the phone.

"They were just devastated, absolutely devastated."

But she said there was some comfort in the fact Alysha had a wonderful time in Vanuatu before the tragedy.

Mrs Webster had told her that Alysha danced and made flax balls with local girls.

Mrs Finnerty's daughter Chelsea, who was good friends with Alysha, was taking the news hard.

Keith Morcom, whose family co-own the catamaran the Websters were sailing on in Vanuatu, said he was "shattered". Mr Morcom said he and Brian Webster, Alysha's grandfather, had sailed the boat to Vanuatu about a month ago.

Alysha's family, including Jessica and her brother James, 4, had flown to Vanuatu to sail on the boat.

It was the third trip the catamaran, built 10 years ago by the Morcom and Webster families, had made to the Pacific Islands.