Pause for photo ends in woman's death plunge

An Australian woman fell to her death in the Waitakere Ranges after stepping off a track to pose for a photograph.

Fiona Hamilton, 43, asked her partner to take the photo during their walk above Mercer Bay, between Karekare and Piha, on Sunday afternoon.

The couple, who had been in New Zealand for four months, came to a picturesque spot where the cliff plunged 60 metres to the coastline, police said.

"[Ms Hamilton] walked off the track to walk to the edge and was asking her partner to take a photograph of her standing there," said Sergeant Paul Zderich.

However, the area was unstable because of vegetation fires last summer and the ground gave way under Ms Hamilton.

Her partner, a Scottish woman, watched helplessly as Ms Hamilton slid down the slope and disappeared over the edge of the cliff.

Ms Hamilton's body was recovered yesterday, after police decided the area was too dangerous for staff to reach on Sunday evening.

The recovery took five hours in difficult terrain, Mr Zderich said. A search and rescue team abseiled down to Ms Hamilton's body, which was then taken back up the cliff using the police helicopter Eagle.

Family in Australia had been notified of her death. Her ex-husband, Gary Hamilton, said he had not spoken to Ms Hamilton for three years but was in contact with her family. "They're taking it pretty hard at the moment."

Mr Zderich said there were signs in the ranges warning walkers to stay on the tracks.

"There's no rail out there but there is a track and if you walk off those tracks ... you can get lost ... and you can get into a spot of bother and fall into precipices and crevasses."