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The Dutch couple subjected to a horrific kidnap ordeal in Northland came to New Zealand because of its safe reputation and planned to settle here.
Yet it has emerged that they may not have been the only tourists stalked in Northland with police confirming that they are investigating reports a German couple were being spied on.
The honeymooning couple, from Roermond in Holland, were kidnapped Friday a week ago from the Haruru Falls carpark near Paihia.
Two men burst into their van with a shotgun, drove them around for several hours and reportedly sexually assaulted the woman in front of the man. The couple arrived in New Zealand in September to stay for a year and then travel to Australia.
They both quit their jobs - she taught at Broeklin school while he was an IT specialist at DuvedeC IT.
Philip Werter, rector at Broeklin school, said a major reason the couple came to New Zealand was safety.
"She has talked about this a lot. She said 'I want to go to New Zealand because it is very safe'. And then this happens in New Zealand."
The illusion of safety in New Zealand has angered the couple's family. Werter said the woman's mother was angry with New Zealanders. "They're in a very bad way. They are very disappointed with the New Zealand people. I don't like to say that, but they went to New Zealand because it's a very safe country.
"They didn't go to South America or South Africa because of that."
DuvedeC IT manager Lau Reijnen said they had put at least seven years of research into New Zealand. They came on a five-week scouting trip in 2003 and hoped to settle here.
"It was a long dream they had. They checked it out in 2003 if that dream fitted with reality. It did. After that they said 'let's do it'. They had a wonderful time and that did convince them they would go to New Zealand to build a new life." Reijnen said the news of their ordeal had been traumatic for the husband's parents. He spoke with the husband's father a few hours after he heard.
"He was very realistic and cool. He talked to [his son] in the morning about the same time he got the news.
"He told me [his son] was OK but we came to the conclusion that it could not be OK - you cannot be OK in a situation like that. He did not realise what had happened at the time."
Reijnen said the man would be traumatised after the incident, especially as he went to the gym at least three times a week and was very strong. "He's very strong - he's a well built person with strong muscles.
"That's what I found the most tragic thing. To let him watch in a horrible situation that he was in - because he has a good build and he found out he couldn't help his wife.
"He must have found it very traumatic. But he has more than enough sense to hold back. It's no use."
The couple are fanatical travellers and very much outdoors people.
"He's a cheerful guy. He was an outdoors person - he was very much a backpacker. He loved sports," said Reijnen.
The story has caused shockwaves in the small Roermond community and throughout Holland.
"It's a very terrible incident," said Werter, who employed the woman. "She's a very good teacher. I was sad she went to New Zealand.
"We wanted to keep her on. She was a very nice girl - a very nice colleague. We heard about it last Sunday and all the pupils and teachers at the school are very upset. We have no explanation about this. We don't know how to cope," he said.
Meanwhile Detective Inspector Mike Pannett of Kaikohe police said the kidnappers drove the tourists around a maze of backroads between Kawakawa and Whangarei, going through Riponui, Hikurangi swamp and Towai.
They were finally dropped at the Towai cemetery near Kawakawa.
They are described as Maori, one in his 20s and the other in his 40s. Pannett said the route they took meant they were almost certainly locals. "I doubt you would be able to find the route with just a finger on the map." Pannett said the kidnappers are likely to still be in the area and police are investigating reports other tourists are being watched by two men.
Two German travellers told the Herald on Sunday a local woman warned them they were being watched in a carpark near Waitangi on Wednesday.
"She said 'do you know two guys have been watching you for the last hour or so? Are you planning to stay?' Then it was easy. We made up our minds to go," they said.
The situation was reported to police. Pannett has confirmed that police intend interviewing the woman.
- additional reporting Alice Hudson
