Teen backpackers reunited with stolen belongings

A happy ending for the German tourists. Photo / Supplied

Two teenage backpackers who lost everything after thieves broke into their rental van have been reunited with their stolen belongings.

German tourists Birgit Handl and Janina Loewer, 19, took an hour-long walk at Fairy Falls in West Auckland about 10.45am yesterday.

When they returned, they found the van had been broken into and all of their belongings - including their passports, credit cards, money, GoPro cameras and backpacks full of all their clothes - had been stolen.

An hour later, police officers from the Browns Bay station on Auckland's North Shore noticed a car whose driver was acting suspiciously.

They pulled the car over and established it had been stolen and its driver was wanted for multiple burglaries and thefts, including stealing from cars.

Police searched the vehicle and found the tourists' passports and travel documents. They arrested the man and took him back to the police station.

Officers then searched a house on Royal Rd in Massey, where they found more items belonging to the teens.

Ms Handl and Ms Loewer were reunited with their belongings this morning.

"They were overwhelmed and a bit teary. They'd been left with only the clothes they were wearing and were just so grateful to get their gear back," Sergeant Tony Bruce of Browns Bay police said.

"It was awesome to be able to hand their stuff to them and I admit we let out a few 'woohoos' when we found the rest of their things."

A 23-year-old man is facing 23 charges, including seven counts of theft from a car, seven of falsely using a document, three of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, two of burglary, two of driving without a licence, and one each of theft and breach of court release conditions.

He was due to appear in the North Shore District Court this afternoon.