A funeral is yet to be held for Zoe Hosking, one of the youngest Whaakari / White Island eruption victims, seven months on from the tragedy. Photograph / Supplied
A funeral is yet to be held for Zoe Hosking, one of the youngest Whaakari / White Island eruption victims, seven months on from the tragedy. Photograph / Supplied
A funeral is yet to be held for one of the youngest Whakaari / White Island eruption victims – seven months on from the tragedy.
Twenty-one people died – two tour guides and 19 tourists – when the popular tourist destination off the Bay of Plenty coastline erupted on December9.
Among the dead was 15-year-old Adelaide schoolgirl Zoe Hosking. Her step-father Gavin Dallow also lost his life, and her mother, Lisa Dallow, was critically injured.
Dallow emerged from a coma early this year to receive the traumatic news that her husband and daughter had not survived the disaster.
Talking from Adelaide, Gavin's twin sister Meredith Dallow said a funeral was yet to be held for Zoe.
She said her family had "no idea at all" when one might be held.
The Herald on Sunday understands Lisa – who suffered burns to almost 60 per cent of her body - is no longer in hospital.
Gavin Dallow, left, died in the Whakaari / White Island tragedy along with his step-daughter Zoe Hosking. His wife Lisa Dallow, right, was critically injured. Photograph / Supplied
Meredith would not comment on where she was other to say she was still in Melbourne. Travel between Victoria and South Australia is restricted because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Zoe was the second youngest person to die on White Island. Matthew Hollander, 13, was the youngest; dying with his 16-year-old brother Berend, and parents Martin, 48, and Barbara, 49.
Meredith said she spoke to Lisa for the first time since the tragedy on June 31; the day she and Gavin would have shared their 54th birthdays.
"We just kept it brief and just let her tell me what she wanted. There weren't many questions," she said.
"She said she wants to come back to Adelaide. It was good we could finally get to talk to her.
Tourists are cleared from Whakaari / White Island after the eruption which claimed the lives of 21 people. Photograph / Michael Schade
"It was still hard [to talk]. She rang on our birthday, to touch base. That was nice."
Meredith described the day of her birthday as "sombre".
Her elderly parents "didn't cope very well that day".
"It was a bit strange [without Gavin]," she said.
"They say the first one [without a loved one] is always the hardest. It was a bit more sombre than what it was [before]. Hopefully next year's will be a bit better.
"The kids talked about him and I said I was sure Gavin was having birthday cake with all the relatives up in heaven. I said I was sure they would be having a drink together."
More than 600 people farewelled Gavin at his funeral held at the Adelaide Oval, on January 10.
A moving tribute to Gavin, a tennis umpire, was also made for him by colleagues at this year's Adelaide International. He was also due to officiate at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
"It has gone quick, but then some ways it only feels like yesterday," Meredith said.
"I watch Gavin's funeral every so often to remind myself that it is real. We still keep thinking he is going to rock up, or ring."
Whakaari / White Island shortly after the deadly eruption on December 9, 2019. Photograph / White Island Flights
Meanwhile, Meredith said her family had no plans to take legal action against Royal Caribbean cruise management, or White Island Tours.
The Dallows were on a Royal Caribbean cruise when they, with other tourists, opted to take a guided tour of White Island.
American honeymooners Matt and Lauren Urey revealed in June they were pursuing a legal claim after almost losing their lives in the tragedy. A Sydney-based lawyer is also preparing legal action against Royal Caribbean on behalf of families of some of the Australians caught up in the tragedy.
But Meredith said: "We really don't know if it is going to achieve anything. It is not going to bring him back or change what has happened.
"It would just cause a whole lot more stress."
Meredith was among Dallow family members who this year were planning to come to New Zealand to mark the first anniversary of the tragedy.
Those plans are now uncertain given border restrictions introduced in the fight against Covid-19.
"I am still hoping we might be able to get to New Zealand for the first anniversary," she said.
