Hapuku Local Damaged Road To Deter Freedom Campers – updated

Today we have some background to the issue of freedom camping in Hapuku. Read our most recent blog about the Swiss tourists whose tyres were slashed as they camped at a remote spot in Hapuku on March 1st, just north of the township of Kaikoura.

It seems that freedom campers have been a thorn in the side for some angry residents, who say the problems became worse after Hapuku got a mention in the Lonely Planet Guide.

A report headed Freedom camping under gun appeared in the Kaikoura star on 12/1//2012

“The Kaikoura district council needs to wake up and address the issue of freedom camping before the environment is ruined beyond repair, say angry residents

Stephen Young, who lives in the Hapuku settlement north of town said the situation was out of control in the area, with neighbours regularly confronted by the sight
of tourists openly defecating outside their properties.

Mr Young said since the paper road at the end of Hapuku was graded recently, an influx of freedom campers had taken it as an invitation to drive down to the
beach and park up for the night.

“The next thing we had buses down there, they had a big party and left broken bottles sticking up out of the sand…it’s just unbelievable…

…Concerned for the safety of other beach users, particularly children, Mr Young took it upon himself to make some “minor” alterations to the track using his digger to formjudder bars and make it harder for campervans to access...”

But when the other residents complained about it he was forced to level it out again….

The report by Emma Dangerfield  goes on to tell how the Lonely Planet mentioned Hapuku, since then the spot has become even more popular with tourists looking for an ideal out of the way location. Mr Young thought the council needed to act now legislate to “do something about it.”

And so the  wheels of bureaucracy are supposed to be turning, the council is canvassing public opinion over the issue. But the mayor of Kaikoura, Winston Gray said that freedom camping was only a big issue for the “crunch month” between 20 Dec and 20 Jan when there was more pressure on the town’s services.

Update: The survey has started, but was met with criticism from local businesses holders and councillors who think it is “flawed”. They say some of the questions are irrelevant: they ask how long the respondent has been in the area and what business they’re in.

“Gerald Nolan, owner of Top 10 Holiday Park, said the council had missed the point when it came to freedom camping. Allowing freedom camping in town would result in the ratepayer picking up the tab for sewer, water, refuse and monitoring costs, and local campgrounds would employ fewer people and spend less on local services.

He too agreed the survey was loaded and questioned the need for the council to know how many guests he had staying at his campground.

“[The] survey asks no questions regarding the financial impact on the community if freedom camping is allowed,” he said. “This community relies on the tourist dollar to create employment and retain services for our economic and social betterment … there is only one winner in this debate and that is the free camper who wants our community to pay for their holiday.”

Mr Nolan said true freedom camping did not mean parking in car parks and urban streets and he did not believe such campers spent much money in town at all…” read a full news report about it here

The survey is to be completed by 16 March.

As the Swiss tourist incident shows tourists are still staying in Hapuku outside of that peak period.  Even though the middle aged women had a fully equipped  campervan with its own bathroom facilities and were causing no problems, people may have still felt strongly enough about the issue to take the law into their own hands and slash tyres.

As far as we are aware police have yet to make an arrest in this case.

The town is concerned that news of this crime will reach an international audience and deter tourists from coming to the area. However, that may have been the intention of the perpetrator. Maybe to get Hapuku removed from the Lonely Planet? who knows what his or her motives were.

Until this issue is resolved we urge tourists to take care when choosing where to lodge their campervans in and around Kaikoura. Gauge local opinion, or ask landowners if it’s ok to park up for a while. Otherwise your holiday could be easily ruined by one thoughtless act of vandalism.

For more about the problems of freedom camping in New Zealand read our other blogs

Swiss Campers’ Tyres Slashed In Kaikoura

Open Season On Freedom Campers Well Underway In New Zealand

Freedom Campers “Should Be Shot”

Swiss Campers’ Tyres Slashed In Kaikoura- updated

Update 3 March 2012:  For background to the issue of freedom camping in Hapuku read Hapuku Local Damaged Road To Deter Freedom Campers

Know any more about this story and the people involved? we’d like to hear from you please leave a message.

We’re saddened to hear of  another malicious act against camping tourists in New Zealand, this time in the township of Kaikoura, famous for its whale watching activities and beautiful scenery.  An ideal spot for  a holiday to get away from it all, or so you’d think.

This appeared in the Cops Corner section of the Marlborough Express on 7 March 2012. Note the tourists had their own toilet facilities

“A campervan had two tyres slashed out at Hapuku on Thursday the 1st March.

Now I understand that freedom camping has its downside to the community, but this was a fully self contained campervan occupied by two middle-aged women from Switzerland.

These visitors were camping respectfully, not causing any issues to anyone or the beautiful environment.

This is not the sort of image that we want to portray to tourists who will be certain to spread the word of this incident in their homeland…”

Hapuku is  a remote area about 14 kms north of Kaikoura township (see Streeview showing a campervan below)

View Larger Map

There have been a number of attacks on Freedom Campers in New Zealand,  some locals aren’t too pleased when they don’t use regular campsites.

This is not just because campsite owners are losing out on fees but because of the  insanitary mess some campers leave behind. Especially in vans that don’t have an built-in WC, unlike those used by the Swiss women.

We think a good PR campaign aimed at both tourists and local people will go a long way to sorting out the misunderstandings, and ensuring visitors get to enjoy their New Zealand holidays.

Open Season declared on Freedom Campers

The situation got so heated at one point that the president of the NZ  Motor Caravan Association  called for freedom campers to be shot. This  is from a blog in February 2010

The president of the New Zealand Motor Caravan Association, Dick Waters, may have wounded himself in his own foot after issuing another call yesterday for freedom campers to be “shot” if they use vans that don’t have their own toilet facilities. Mr Waters, is reported as having said yesterday that “Messy freedom campers who trundle around the country in sleeper vans without toilets or self-contained utilities should be “shot”.  It followed similar comments he made in January

His remarks will probably touch a raw nerve with campers who have suffered assaults and robberies whilst camping in New Zealand (see posts tagged Campsite Assaults)

Effectively declaring open season on certain types of campers isn’t going to do much to enhance the country’s tarnished reputation for visitor safety is it?  Even if the comment was meant to shock, rather than be taken literally, it may cause certain elements of NZ society to feel less than ‘gracious’ towards visitors, who may be now viewed as little more than vermin…

Sadly it seems that’s what may have happened in Kaikoura.

We hope that the women made it home safely to Switzerland and next time they decide on a camping holiday they chose somewhere a little more tolerant of its guests.

See also:

Open season on Freedom Campers well underway in New Zealand

…A couple camping in Tamatea Point in Pakawau were lucky to escape with their lives after someone ” shot at, smashed and attempted to set fire to their campervan” at 5.50 one morning,  presumably they were sleeping in it at the time.

The holidaymakers, a “44-year-old male New Zealander and a 36-year-old New Zealand-residing Chinese woman,” from Hamilton…

and

A group of freedom campers at Waitapu Bridge in Golden Bay was threatened with violence by local residents with pig (hunting) dogs, if they did not leave the site. (link) and in another incident a couple of campers at Haast Beach were threatened and when they moved into Haast township were threatened again.

Read more:

For posts about Kaikoura click here

For posts about Swiss tourists click here

Reddit thread: WTF is wrong with Kaikoura…?

Herewini, Any Relation?

It has been confirmed that four males have been charged with the stabbing murder of 64 year old Polish man  Roman Skorek in a Rotorua’s Kuirau Park last month.

Two are un-named youths aged 14 and 15, the others are Simon Meka Herewini, 20, and Rawiri James Samuel, 21.

Co-incidentally, Simon Meka Herewini bears the same family name as someone who was caught up in aftermath of the  murder of Scottish tourist Karen Aim, namely Leigh Herewini.

34 year old Leigh Herewini found Karen dying from her injuries on a Taupo street in January 2008 . He was a security guard at a school near to where she was found and said he was responding to an alarm at the school when he discovered her.

Local youth Jache Broughton, who was 14 at the time of the attack, later changed his plea to guilty of her murder.

In a court hearing  Herewini gave evidence that Broughton had shown him the murder weapon in the days following the killing:

“The teenager accused of murdering Scottish tourist Karen Aim allegedly hid the baseball bat he used to kill her under his house and then showed the bloodstained, dented object to a man he knew.

Leigh Herewini, a 34-year-old security guard, said he felt “uncomfortable” when he saw the bat because “it could’ve been the bat that hurt the girl”.

Mr Herewini was testifying at the second day of a depositions hearing at the Taupo Youth Court yesterday.

The accused, who was 14 when he allegedly murdered Ms Aim in January, stared at Mr Herewini while he gave evidence.

But Mr Herewini avoided his gaze and told the court the accused had shown him the baseball bat when he had gone to his house about two or three days after Ms Aim was killed.

“It had a lot of dents and bitsmissing off it,” Mr Herewini said. “It looked like it had blood on it.”

He said the accused had called him on the day Ms Aim was killed and told him he knew who was responsible for the murder.

“He said it was a guy Bryan, a Mongrel Mob prospect from Rotorua.”

Leigh Herewini also helped Broughton cover up the savage bashing of another female in Taupo, this from the NZ Herald, 6 February 2009. Reporting of it was suppressed for fear of prejudicing Broughton’s trial for the murder of Karen Aim:

Security guard shielded Karen Aim’s killer

The security guard who called police to report smashed windows at a Taupo college on the night Karen Aim’s body was found nearby had earlier helped Jahche Broughton to cover up the bashing of another female.

The guard, Leigh Herewini, 37, was the former partner of Broughton’s aunt and would often take the 14-year-old on security rounds with him.

Leigh Herewini was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact.

Broughton then went to Herewini’s house, where the guard helped to stash the girl’s stolen pink handbag.

Herewini was working the night Ms Aim was murdered and helped to cordon off the scene. He was charged with being an accessory after the fact and sentenced to five months’ community detention and six months’ supervision.

The case, in Rotorua in November, was not covered by the media because details of his part in the crime were suppressed for fear they would prejudice Broughton’s trial. Suppression orders were lifted yesterday following the young killer’s guilty plea.

Herewini testified against Broughton during a depositions hearing in September.

Small world. Rotorua and Taupo seem to have a poor record for violent youth offending don’t they?

Our advice to visitors is to be aware of your personal safety at all times and to keep to well frequented areas at night.

Australians Latest Victims Of Tourist Crime In New Zealand

Following on from our post Tourists Continue To Be Targets For Criminals In New Zealand on 2 December, we’re appalled to hear the news that more tourists have been targetted by New Zealand’s bogan criminals.

New Zealand has one of the OECD’s most rapidly widening gaps between rich and poor, unfortuantely crime against tourists is just one manifestation of the deep inequalities within its society.

The latest crimes  (not all are reported to the media, some only come to light when the offenders appear in court) were committed against Australian tourists, three of them schoolies from New South Wales (perhaps they should’ve gone to Bali?) in two separate robberies.

Rotorua

An Australian psychologist and his family had been in Rotorua only a few hours when their campervan was broken into and possessions worth more than $10,000 stolen. Clinton Schultz said their van was cleaned out while they were at a birthday party. “Everything was gone.” source Mr Schultz was with his wife Lozen McDiarmid and their two young children.

Napier, Hawkes Bay

“Three teenage Australian students on holiday in Hawke’s Bay at the end of their school year were robbed of $218 by thugs who leapt out of a car on Napier’s Marine Parade and demanded their cash.” the 17 & 18 year olds were quietly sitting on a bench when a car full of drunk thugs stopped and ‘rolled them’ source

Considering that these are just the latest in a succession of crimes against visitors to New Zealand what advice are we giving to anyone considering a vacation in New Zealand?

Don’t. Just don’t go there.

But if you must travel to New Zealand, leave your valuables at home. Don’t use a campervan and don’t carry more than a few dollars in cash around with you.

Travel Advisories

Both the British and Australian foreign offices have had the sense to issue the following advice to travellers to New Zealand, you can’t say you weren’t warned.

Safety and Security – Crime (UK)

“Street crimes occur in major urban areas. Reports of thefts from unattended vehicles, especially hire cars/camper vans in major tourist areas (e.g. the Coromandel Peninsula, Rotorua and Queenstown) have increased. There has also been an increase in the number of thefts from hotel rooms in some tourist areas. Do not leave possessions in unattended vehicles even if out of sight in a locked boot. Do not leave valuables in hotel rooms, but use safe boxes when available.  Keep passports, travellers’ cheques, credit cards, etc separate.”

Money and valuables  (Australia)

“Before you go, organise a variety of ways to access your money in New Zealand, such as credit cards, travellers’ cheques, cash, debit cards or cash cards.  Consult with your bank to find out which is the most appropriate currency to carry and whether your ATM card will work in New Zealand.

Make two photocopies of valuables such as your passport, tickets, visas and travellers’ cheques.  Keep one copy with you in a separate place to the original and leave another copy with someone at home.

While travelling, don’t carry too much cash and remember that expensive watches, jewellery and cameras may be tempting targets for thieves.”

You may also be interested in these blogs

NZ World Cup Visitors Rich Pickings For Thieves – Updated

Another Welsh Couple Robbed in New Zealand. No “Gold” For The Haskeys

Suffolk Couple Put Emigration Plans On Hold After Experiencing NZ’s Crime

For more posts about crimes against tourists, which include rapes and serious assaults, in New Zealand read all our blogs tagged Tourist Attacks

Tourists Continue To Be Targets For Criminals In New Zealand

Now that the rugby world cup is safely out of the way we’re starting to more coverage of serious crimes against tourists in New Zealand again.

A reader has sent us a link to another spate of violent robberies in the small Northland town of Kerikeri. In the first incident a  39-year-old Swedish man was clubbed over the head by a ‘group’ of young teens and robbed.

In the second assault a  20-year-old German woman, walking to the Top Ten Holiday park was grabbed by the face and punched by a woman and woman who then stole her belongings.

If you’re headed for Kerikeri or the “lawless north” and concerned for your personal safety you can read more about the assaults here

Scottish tourist Karen Aim murdered in Taupo, NZ

And in Taupo, where an inquest was held this week for murdered Scottish tourist Karen Aim, an American woman has been sexually assaulted whilst on a walking track

“Taupo police Detective Sergeant Tony Manunui said the 37-year-old woman was walking on a track between Huka Falls and Spa Spark when a man, described as Polynesian or Maori – assaulted her…” more here

.

Taupo, Safe International Community

Last year we wrote about how Taupo was trying to push itself towards becoming a World Health Organisation “Safe International Community”  (read Korean Tourist Beaten And Robbed In Taupo, An International Safe Community?)  and expressed our concern that tourists may be lulled into a false sense of security if they believed the hype around the project, saying

“We sincerely hope that tourists, who are already the target of violence and robberies in NZ because of their perceived vulnerability and relative wealth, aren’t suckered in to believing they can be more relaxed with their personal security. Using the “Safe International Community” badge as a marketing tool may be counterproductive because it may make tourists easier targets. It’s hardly going to reduce the crime figures or improve the country’s image abroad if that happens.

The small tourist town was shoved under the international spotlight when British visitor Karen Aim was clubbed to death and interfered with whilst walking home one night. Her attacker was a 14 year old youth who was later convicted of murder and sentenced to life with a non-parole period of 12.5 years.  Prominent British composer and Master of the Queen’s Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, wrote a composition in Karen’s memory after being “moved and shocked” by her death…” more here

We often write about crimes against tourists in New Zealand and these incidents re-enforce the fact that visitors to New Zealand are being specifically targetted by local criminals and must take every precaution to keep themselves safe.

Karen Aim inquest:  “Parental supervision failed teen basher”

(Dominion Post 29/11/2011)

“Lack of parental supervision is one of the main factors in violent youth offending, Rotorua coroner Wallace Bain has said at an inquest.

Dr Bain was commenting at the inquest of the death of Scottish tourist Karen Aim in January 2008, in Taupo Coroners Court today.

Ms Aim, 27, was severely bashed by a teenager near her Taupo flat as she walked home after socialising with friends.

She suffered serious brain injuries and died in Taupo Hospital.

A year later Jache Broughton, 14, of Taupo, pleaded guilty to her murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 12 years…” more

Our thoughts and deepest condolences are againwith the family and friends of Karen Aim this week. They’re still searching for answers as to why their loved one was cruelly taken from them.