KEY POINTS:
Grief turned to anger yesterday at the highly charged funeral service for the two youngsters who drowned in a boating tragedy on Auckland's Hauraki Gulf last week.
Unanswered questions surrounding the tragedy were briefly put to one side as around 100 mourners gathered at Glen Innes' Rua Potaka Marae for an emotional hour-long service to remember Erina and Travis Rowles' short lives.
As the children's caskets were loaded into the hearse by their parents, Lindsay and Tania, for their final journey to the North Shore Memorial Park Cemetery in Albany, Maori wardens and some funeral-goers, angry at the media presence, abused and threatened photographers and a TVNZ reporter.
The confrontation was a black spot on an already sombre occasion for those mourning the loss of 8-year-old Erina and 5-year-old Travis.
The children drowned when the family's 7.3m aluminium launch sank in calm waters in the Hauraki Gulf in the early hours of Anzac Day.
The unexplained tragedy has not only devastated the Rowles whanau, but also the tight-knit community of Devonport, where Erina and Travis lived. Many attending yesterday's funeral service were students, teachers and parents from Devonport Primary School, still reeling over the loss of "these just delightful children".
One parent said yesterday's funeral had been "just such a sad occasion".
"It's still hard to believe," he said.
Lindsay and Tania Rowles were too grief-stricken to speak yesterday, but a family spokesman said the tragedy had hit the family hard. They now wanted to grieve in private.
Police and Maritime New Zealand will tomorrow continue their inquiries in an effort to piece together what caused the sinking.
That investigation will consider a number of potential issues, including the use of lifejackets and whether alcohol was a factor.
Police had spoken to the previous owners of the launch, who were known to the Rowles family, but by yesterday had not revealed anything about those discussions. Police have confirmed the boat was missing one of its bungs, but wouldn't speculate on whether that was the cause of the tragedy.
The aluminium launch was on its first outing after the Rowles had bought it. They left Devonport at 11am on Tuesday and were fishing off Tarahiki Island, east of Waiheke Island early on Anzac Day when the boat started taking on water.
One theory behind the sinking is that the propeller got caught in an abandoned anchor rope, pulling the boat backwards and taking it down stern first.
However, it still remains unclear why the four adults on board were able to save themselves but not Erina and Travis - a point police have so far refused to speculate on.
The two children were asleep in the cabin where they became trapped as the boat went down. The adults made their way to nearby rocks where they were marooned for nearly five hours, knowing the children were probably trapped in the sunken boat.
