Simeki met his girlfriend Leonie Hafke one and a half years ago at the Riverhead Tavern where they both worked. Photo / Facebook
Simeki's brother Cruz Simeki travelled to Bali yesterday afternoon with his mum and best friend. As soon as they landed they rushed to visit Hafke who is in hospital with a collapsed lung. She struggled to speak to them because she is short of breath.
"As soon as we saw her she broke down in tears straight away, we both did, we all did.
"She couldn't help herself but think of TJ. She was saying 'you sound like him'.
Photos show the family gathering in Hafke's hospital room trying to cheer her up.
German woman Leonie Hafke after she was rescued in Bali. Photo / Supplied
Hafke's parents have arrived from Germany and Simeki's dad and brother-in-law are already there. Cruz said Hafke should be out of hospital on Tuesday. It would then be another week before she could get the tubes pulled out of her lungs and she was well enough to fly. He said she wanted to come back to New Zealand and be with the Simeki family.
Today Cruz is waiting to see if he can go on the search and rescue mission with his brother-in-law. They hope to get to the island where Simeki was last seen by tomorrow and join the search effort on the water.
"We really want to help search for him. Help in our own way, be involved.
"Whether he's there or not we just want to go there and give our prayers."
Mother and son, Minnie and Cruz Simeki have arrived in Bali to aid the search for Temson Junior Simeki. Photo/Supplied
Cruz said the "adventurous couple", who were very much in love, met about a year and a half ago at the Riverhead Tavern, where Simeki's mum also worked. They dated for three months before travelling around New Zealand then Southeast Asia.
Their plan was to travel Bali for a month, then Hafke would go on to Nepal while Simeki visited family at home. He would then meet up with her in Europe for more travel.
Temson Junior Simeki loved to travel. Photo / Facebook
Simeki is the youngest of two brothers and two sisters. He was planning to come home early this month but had decided to stay an extra month with Hafke. He had booked a flight home on April 3 after a year of being away. His sister had just had a baby he was looking forward to meeting, Cruz told the Herald.
"We're just so distraught. We know he so badly wanted to come home and see us.
"TJ has got a big heart, he cares so much about his family. It was family first always."
Cruz, who is just a year older than Simeki, said they grew up like twins. He said his little brother had big plans to start a course and get into the IT industry.
"Everyone knew us as twins, we stuck together at a young age. He's pretty much my best friend.
"He just wanted to come home and be himself, do that start fresh after his travels away."
The family struck financial difficulty as Simeki's travel insurance expired on March 12 in time with his old plan to leave Bali. Cruz said they're trying to raise funds via a Givealittle page to help the family travel to Bali and get Simeki's body back home if they find him.
He said his parents are heartbroken.
"They are not doing the best, but we are just trying to be strong for them, we're here for moral support because it's really hard.
