NZ's drowning numbers are amongst the worst in the world so what can we do to stay safe in the water? Video / NZ Herald
Just over a month ago, Hemin Limbachiya and Tanvi Bhavsar were celebrating the start of the rest of their lives together - now preparations are under way for Limbachiya's funeral, after a trip to Waimarama Beach took a tragic turn.
The 26-year-old drowned after he and Bhavsar were caught in a flash rip and swept out to sea on Sunday evening. They had been swimming with another man north of the Waimarama Surf Lifesaving Club.
The couple married in Gujarat, India, friends told Hawke's Bay Today.
His close friend Keanan Beyers yesterday remembered him as a cricket fan with a dry sense of humour, who was easygoing and always there for his friends.
Since emigrating to New Zealand several years ago Limbachiya had worked in Auckland, and studied at Whitirea before working for Spark in Wellington, where Beyers met him.
"He was just a really, really nice guy, I don't think anybody had a bad thing to say about him. You could just sit down and talk to him, you could talk to him about anything," Beyers said.
"He was a really funny person. He used to always joke I was the only bald Indian he'd ever met."
Caution tape cordons off an area on Waimarama beach where local Maori put a rahui in place after the drowning. Photo/Warren Buckland
He was also very direct, and honest - a terrible parker, Beyers recalled Limbachiya dinging a company car.
Since meeting in 2015, the pair had "shared our journey together" by going through similar milestones - from work problems, helping each other through the complicated visa process, to sharing the excitement of each other's engagements.
The Wellington resident said he was not surprised "selfless" Limbachiya had tried to save his new wife. On Sunday, Limbachiya was said to have tried to keep his wife afloat and told rescuers to take her, before him.
"He was just that kind of person. All I can think is he must have done something to make the other two survive. That's just him."
Beyers had been unable to make it to India for Limbachiya's wedding. He heard it was a big "traditional Indian wedding", which had fulfilled Limbachiya's over-100-year-old grandmother's dream of seeing him get married.
"He was happy, he was very happy with Tanvi," Beyers said.
Beyers said he last spoke with his friend in December, when he had mentioned the couple might be moving to Waikato. Hawke's Bay Today understands Bhasvar worked in Napier.
The High Commission of India in New Zealand had been in touch with Limbachiya's family, and were working with the couple's friends in New Zealand.
An official of the high commission said his body would be taken to India, where most of his family still lived, in the coming days.
Limbachiya's father made a passionate plea over social media to the Indian Government's Minister of External affairs Sushma Swaraj to help bring his son's body home.
Indian media recently reported Swaraj helped a woman get the body of her son back to India, after he suddenly died at a Malaysian airport. The minister had been alerted to the family's plight over social media.
Limbachiya's family could not be reached for comment.
