UK tramper ‘loved NZ mountains’
A friend of a British woman who died tramping in Mt Aspiring National Park has thanked those who joined the search and spoken about her friend’s love of New Zealand’s mountains and her plans to explore the country.
Late last year Canadian Rebekah Hanson joined the Wanaka landscape firm that Stephanie Simpson had joined about a month before.
Simpson’s body was found on Friday, after she was reported missing last Monday.
Hanson said she was devastated; Simp- son felt like a sister and they were together seven days a week – at work and having fun on their days off.
‘‘She was so vivacious and completely infectious to be around, she made quite a lot of friends here.
‘‘She was very courageous, strong and hard working – landscape gardening is intense laborious work but Stephanie made it look easy.
‘‘And of course adventurous.’’
Simpson was from Essex, and chose Wanaka because it would be a totally different experience to living in a city, and because of the outdoor opportunities.
‘‘She wanted to explore and
she was
so take in everything that she could in her time here, she thrived off being outside and enjoying this beautiful country.’’
Simpson had worked as a maintenance worker on Australian skifields for the winter before coming to New Zealand.
She was missing her family and her Australian boyfriend, who she was planning to spend this winter with after leaving Wanaka.
And she had been saving to buy a car for driving to hiking trails, so she could explore more.
‘‘She only managed to get that car a couple of weeks ago, so she only managed to get in a few hikes here in the area before this weekend ... I know she was really excited for all the ones she wanted to do, and she really loved the ones she was able to do,’’ Hanson says.
‘‘The mountains are where she filled up and it fed her spirit, so I really believe just being out here for the past few months, being in Wanaka and having the mountains surrounding lifted her up in so many ways.
‘‘We had a conversation just a little while ago, and she said: my experience here has been amazing; she said she could breathe out here, and being out in the mountains made her feel small but strong at the same time.’’ – RNZ