Australian family rescued by canoe after driving campervan into NZ lake
A family, on holiday from Australia, had to be rescued on Tuesday night from their campervan that was half-submerged at a lake near Wellington on New Zealand's North Island.
The campervan accidentally drove through a barrier at a car park beside Henley Lake in Masterton about 7.30pm and floated away with a man and his four children, aged three to 16, aboard.
The mother was onshore as the scene unfolded. Bystanders consoled her and called emergency services.
Senior Sergeant Mike Sutton of Wairarapa Police was one of the first on the scene.
He told the Wairarapa Times-Age that the family's mother had got out to stretch her legs when disaster struck.
"They still had [it] in gear and didn't have the brake on and it went forward," he said.
"When I talked to the lady and she said 'They're still in there,' I thought, 'Oh my god,' " he told Stuff.
A firefighter waded out to the campervan, which had taken on water and settled on the bottom of the lake about 20 metres from shore.
Fire crews attached a line to the vehicle and commandeered a traditional outrigger canoe, known as a waka ama, from a nearby club to ferry the occupants to safety.
The father was also in the water, which was extremely cold, to help his children into the canoe, Sutton said.
"After they were all safely onshore, we got them warm and sheltered and somewhere to stay for the night."
Sutton said the family's reaction was that of relief that they were safe even though all their possessions were still in the vehicle.
"The kids were in really good spirits," he said. "They were really calm considering the circumstances."
The family stayed in a motel in Masterton overnight, while the campervan was left in the lake.
"We were a bit worried that some locals might clean it out overnight," Sutton said.
The rental company was arranging salvage on Wednesday.
Sutton said getting the van out of the lake was unlikely to be straightforward as the vehicle would be full of water and a diver would probably be needed to attach a tow line.
"The upper parts of those things are quite flimsy, so they will have to find somewhere underneath to attach it to the chassis," he said.
On Wednesday morning, locals were taking pictures of the rental vehicle still sitting about 20 metres off the lake's shore.