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Terry and Lynne Martin had taken their four girls on several beach holidays but they say they will never look at the sea in the same way after two of their daughters died in Samoa's tsunami.
The Matamata couple arrived in Samoa to pick up their daughters' bodies two days ago and today described their ordeal at a media conference at New Zealand's High Commission in Apia.
Rebecca, 24, and Petria Martin, 22, are among seven New Zealanders who are confirmed to have died in Samoa.
South Auckland grandmother Tauaavaga Tupuola, 84, Raglan woman Mary Anne White, another adult and two children were also confirmed dead.
Two-year-old Alfie Cunliffe, whose British parents had moved to New Zealand, was also missing and presumed dead.
New Zealand diplomatic staff are also looking into the whereabouts of 10 more Kiwis, some of whom may have already left Samoa.
Through tears, the Martins this morning told of their grief for their two bubbly daughters.
Mrs Martin said Rebecca, a teacher at Hamilton's Rototuna Primary School, said: "Very bright, bubbly, and really loved her class. She's my little mother hen."
Petria, who worked at Matamata's sports centre and ran an aqua exercise class, "had a way with the older people".
The two girls were excited about being aunties for the first time as their older sister Kristie and her husband were expecting their first baby.
"But our family dynamics have obviously changed forever," Mrs Martin said.
Yesterday the Martins walked quietly hand-in-hand through the ruins of the Taufua Beach Fales resort and stared out at the water which took their two daughters from them.
They took photos and hugged NZ police liaison officer to Samoa Ross Ardern and his wife Laurelle, whom they have been staying with in the village of Alafoa near Apia since Friday.
It is understood the bodies of their daughters were yesterday formally identified at the Mato'otua Hospital morgue in Apia by their dental records. Their parents will accompany their bodies back to New Zealand this week.
The sisters' bodies were found within two days of each other at least 200m from the beach fale they were staying in with their cousin, Hamilton travel agent Jodi McGlashan, and her friend Olivia Loeffen.
An Australian couple passing by yesterday spotted the hugging group and stopped to show them photos on their digital camera they'd taken two days before the tsunami of what the resort used to look like.
The images are a far cry from what's left. The only clue that the spot used to house a popular tourist attraction is the resort's sign, found hundreds of metres away, that the Taufua family have erected on a post.
Keisha Brown, who lives on Phillip Island in Victoria, said she had exchanged details with the Martins and they had asked her to email the photos to them.
"I think we came along at the right time. The place looks nothing like it did, it's very unrecognisable."
The 20-year-old and her boyfriend had left the resort two days before and were in bed at a hotel in Apia when the earthquake struck.
"It shook the whole place. It was like the earth was a bouncy ball."
Miss Brown and her partner, who have been helping the Red Cross, packed 12 people into their rental jeep and headed for higher ground.
How you can help
Pacific Cooperation Foundation
Deposits can be made at at any Westpac branch. All the money raised will go to the Samoan Government
Red Cross
- Make a secure online donation at redcross.org.nz
- Send cheques to the Samoan Red Cross Fund, PO Box 12140, Thorndon, Wellington 6144
- Call 0900 31 100 to make an automatic $20 donation
- Make a donation at any NZ Red Cross office
ANZ bank
Make a donation at any ANZ bank branch, or donate directly to the ANZ appeal account: 01 1839 0143546 00
Oxfam
- Make a secure online donation at
Oxfam.org.nz
- Phone 0800 400 666 or make an automatic $20 donation by calling 0900 600 20
