Miss-Delectable
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Holiday ruined for deaf tourists - Central North Island local news on Stuff.co.nz
A brazen daytime theft of credit cards and airline tickets from a locked van on a busy Rotorua road has turned the holiday of two hearing impaired tourists upside down.
The van belonging to Irish visitor Stephen Gilligan and Korean friend Jong-Moon Kim was broken into opposite the shops on Tarewa Road between 10am and 12.15pm on Sunday. Also taken were some items of clothing and a new pair of running shoes. The pair, who linked through the Auckland Deaf Association, may now cut short their visit to New Zealand and return to their respective countries.
"I was going to go home in April but that might change now," Mr Gilligan said.
"I won't know for sure until I get back to Auckland and work things out," Mr Gilligan said.
Despite the distress caused by the incident Mr Gilligan has not been put off New Zealand or its people.
"We've had a great time meeting so many people and doing different things," he said.
Though communication without sign language was difficult for the men, they had experienced few difficulties on their travels before the Rotorua incident.
"It had all gone pretty smoothly apart from the van breaking down once," he said.
At the time of the incident the tourists were visiting a Deaf Association contact Diana Luke who later helped them contact the police and talk to potential witnesses.
A brazen daytime theft of credit cards and airline tickets from a locked van on a busy Rotorua road has turned the holiday of two hearing impaired tourists upside down.
The van belonging to Irish visitor Stephen Gilligan and Korean friend Jong-Moon Kim was broken into opposite the shops on Tarewa Road between 10am and 12.15pm on Sunday. Also taken were some items of clothing and a new pair of running shoes. The pair, who linked through the Auckland Deaf Association, may now cut short their visit to New Zealand and return to their respective countries.
"I was going to go home in April but that might change now," Mr Gilligan said.
"I won't know for sure until I get back to Auckland and work things out," Mr Gilligan said.
Despite the distress caused by the incident Mr Gilligan has not been put off New Zealand or its people.
"We've had a great time meeting so many people and doing different things," he said.
Though communication without sign language was difficult for the men, they had experienced few difficulties on their travels before the Rotorua incident.
"It had all gone pretty smoothly apart from the van breaking down once," he said.
At the time of the incident the tourists were visiting a Deaf Association contact Diana Luke who later helped them contact the police and talk to potential witnesses.