A waterproof camera was found on Motutapu Island in Hauraki Gulf after it fell overboard during a trip. Photo / Department of Conservation
A waterproof camera was found on Motutapu Island in Hauraki Gulf after it fell overboard during a trip. Photo / Department of Conservation
A Department of Conservation research assistant has returned a waterproof camera to an Auckland student more than two months after it was lost.
The 15-year-old Mt Albert Grammar student says it fell out of her pocket during a trip to Motatapu Island.
The group had been on a four-day experience on Steinlager II, owned by New Zealand Sailing Trust.
A fully functional waterproof camera has been returned to an ecstatic Auckland student more than two months after falling into the Hauraki Gulf.
Mt Albert Grammar School student Katie told the Herald she lost the Lumix camera during a four-day trip around the gulf on Steinlager II from December 9 to 12.
“I put the camera in my pocket [because] I was taking photos while on Motatapu Island. When we got back to the boat, it was gone,” she said.
Katie and her friends couldn’t return to the island so they looked around the boat, above deck, below deck and through her bag after arriving home.
“I must have taken 50 or so photos. I was so sad. Me and my friends for months just wishing we had them.”
Mt Albert Grammar student Kate lost her waterproof camera during a four-day trip on Steinlager II in the Hauraki Gulf. Photo / Supplied
Five weeks later on January 20, Department of Conservation (DoC) research assistant Mahina Walle was cleaning up the beach on the Hauraki Gulf island when she spotted a camera.
“It was well waterproofed so when I picked it up, it still turned on,” she said.
“I have had Nerf gun bullets wash up on the beach. I found a coconut with the husk still on it. I even found a puffer fish.”
She wanted to process the photos because she knew how special they could be.
“If I ever lost any, I would be ecstatic to get them back so I just really wanted to reconnect the camera and especially the photos to the person who lost them if I could.”
Walle and her colleagues recognised the boat as Steinlager 2 and contacted the New Zealand Sailing Trust to return the camera.
“The memories captured on that camera weren’t lost after all, and it’s all thanks to one thoughtful stranger and the power of community,” the trust said in a Facebook post.
DoC research assistant Mahina Walle found the waterproof camera washed up on a beach at Motutapu Island. Photo / Department of Conservation
‘This heartwarming tale is a reminder that small acts of kindness can lead to big smiles.”
Katie’s Outdoor Education teacher received a call in late January to say the camera had washed up on the shore.
“They had turned it on and seen the Steinlager 2 boat in one of the photos, so they were able to tell it was from our school’s trip.”
The 15-year-old couldn’t believe her luck when the camera turned up. It was officially handed over to her during a ceremony yesterday afternoon.
“I’m so grateful,” Katie said.
Motutapu and Rangitoto are mammalian predator-free islands where visitors can see native birds such as kiwi, takahē, dotterels and variable oystercatchers.
