‘Armed police were flown to the rescue of a petrified couple in Golden Bay after a man smashed into their campervan with a machete and tried to set fire to it while they were still inside.
The couple, who had been abused earlier in the day about freedom camping, were parked at a reserve in Pakawau, between Collingwood and Farewell Spit when the attack happened about 6am this morning…” source
This kind of thing happens with depressing frequency in New Zealand. I lost track of the number of such incidents–often accompanied by rape and robbery -during 2010. NZ is not a place where it’s safe to park a camper van on the side of the road or in a reserve at night. One of the things I was most struck by on my return to Australia was the lower levels of awareness and security necessary here. Of course that’s merely anecdotal, but I sure as hell can tell the difference. The simple truth is that NZ is a violent, crime-ridden little country and most Kiwis seem to be either numb to it or in denial.
