Bashed tourists to carry on: 'We won't judge rest of NZ on attack'

Scott Kelleher (left) and Jacob Ulgenes remain positive. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Two American tourists who were viciously assaulted less than 48 hours into their holiday say it won't ruin their time here.

"It disrupted a little bit of the Northland tour but the trip continues," said Jacob Ulgenes, 22, who spoke to the Herald at Middlemore Hospital after surgery to reconstruct his broken jaw. "It's a minor setback. We are in pretty good spirits.

"Everyone has been so apologetic, and I want people to know we're not going to judge the people of New Zealand based on an isolated incident with a couple of bad people."

Police are yet to make arrests in relation to the attack, which occurred in Paihia about 3am on Saturday.

Mr Ulgenes and Scott Kelleher, 23, roomed together at Montana Tech and recently graduated with engineering degrees.

The trip to New Zealand is their first time out of North America.

After a night out in Paihia, they were with other travellers in the carpark outside the Bay Adventurer Backpackers when a car pulled up.

A German woman in the group made a joke about the brightness of the car's lights, and a woman in the car became aggressive.

When Mr Ulgenes tried to calm her he was punched in the jaw by a man, one of two people who appeared to arrive in the car with the woman.

"My friend was standing on the opposite side of the German girls we were talking to, and he said the guy just stepped out of the shadows, and it made a terrible sound, I guess," Mr Ulgenes said.

Mr Kelleher was knocked unconscious, suffering a badly cut lip that later needed stitches. Police and an ambulance were called.

After spending the night at the Bay of Islands Hospital in Kawakawa, Mr Ulgenes and Mr Kelleher drove to Middlemore Hospital in South Auckland with a friend from Montana.

Determined to still make the most of their holiday, they took the scenic route. "We got out of the [Bay of Islands] hospital," Mr Kelleher said. "We were both still wearing clothes that had blood on them and his jaw was all jacked up and I still had blood on my face and we went and saw the [Waipu] glow-worm caves."

Five titanium plates and 14 screws now hold together Mr Ulgenes' jaw. He was discharged from hospital yesterday and the group were to head straight for Hobbiton, Matamata.

They leave for Australia on Friday.

Northland police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said police were working through positive lines of inquiry.