Video creator reversed image Families still waiting for bodies
A VIDEO marketing New Zealand to tourists and featuring a campervan driving on the wrong side of the road has been pulled.
Titled New Zealand – the Ultimate Road Trip, the five minute video features the usual whiteknuckle New Zealand adventures such as white water rafting, sky diving, bungy jumping, and jet boating.
But the most death-defying of all is the few seconds when a campervan is driving along what appears to be a South Island road on the right hand side.
Tourism NZ spokeswoman Deborah Gray said the campervan was in fact on the correct side of the road but the image had been reversed by the video producer. It had since been taken down.
The video was created by American You Tube star Devin Graham, who toured New Zealand last summer.
She understood Tourism NZ had signed off on the video, which was posted on September 28 and had since gathered more than 300,000 views.
Tourism NZ was now in touch with Graham to get him to re-edit the video so the campervan appeared on the correct side of the road. THE families of two men who died while kayaking Lake Tekapo are frustrated by delays getting their bodies home.
Daniel Hollnsteiner’s relatives are flying from all over the world to attend his funeral in New York and his casket has been chosen, but his body remains in New Zealand.
Hollnsteiner, 21, and fellow student James Murphy, 20, died on September 25 while kayaking on Lake Tekapo.
Murphy reached the remote Motuariki Island after conditions deteriorated while the group he was with was kayaking.
He went back into the icy water to try to save a friend after hearing some of the kayaks had capsized in high winds. He never made it back to shore.
Ten days later, neither parents have their sons’ bodies.
Hollnsteiner’s mum, Ria David, said the coroner was yet to fully identify her son’s body. They had tried through fingerprints, but David was unsure there were any prints to compare them with.
The family were now hoping to get dental records sent to the coroner to confirm Hollnsteiner’s identity. Family from the Philippines, California and Chicago were making their way to New York for Hollnsteiner’s funeral.
‘‘It’s been very, very frustrating,’’ David said. ‘‘We have preliminary arrangements, we have picked a casket, but it’s still pending a date – we can’t have a funeral without Daniel.’’
She had spoken to Murphy’s mum, Sue, who was also waiting for her son’s body.
‘‘She said James is already cleared, but because Daniel’s not being released they’re not releasing him.’’
David said the family had not decided whether they would take any action death.
‘‘We aren’t pursuing anything yet – we do have questions, but we just want him home now.
A spokesman for the coroner’s office said the chief coroner ‘‘sincerely regrets’’ the identification process had taken longer than normal. The bodies were identified by a witness and police at the scene, but the identification documentation was not correctly transferred to the bodies.
‘‘As the witness had then left the country, the coroner requested additional information be provided from overseas.’’
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