Australian tourist escaped death twice in New Zealand

The Shotover River is located in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. The name correctly suggests that this 75 kilometer-long river is fast flowing, with numerous rapids.

The Shotover River is located in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. The name correctly suggests that this 75 kilometer-long river is fast flowing, with numerous rapids. The river flows generally south from the Southern Alps on its journey running through the Skippers Canyon, before draining into the Kawarau River east of Queenstown.

A terrified Australian tourist who was on a bus that careered downhill and smashed into a pine tree, which prevented it plummeting 80m into the Shotover River, says she has escaped death a second time.

“I went through breast cancer a few years ago. I felt like a survivor anyway but this was just crazy,” a tearful Sharon Jephson said.

She was one of 25 passengers on the Connectabus, travelling from Queenstown to Arrowtown, which skidded downhill towards the Edith Cavell Bridge at Arthur’s Point before lurching to the right and hitting a pine tree, preventing a plunge into the river below about noon on Saturday.

“It was pretty scary. We heard the brakes screech. I didn’t know if he was going to turn. All I knew is there was no land past where we were going,” she said. She had a bruise above her eye from where she had hit the seat in front when the bus stopped.

Four passengers were taken to hospital where one required stitches to his head. The others were treated for bruises.

“He [the driver] reckoned the brakes failed but I think everybody on that bus thinks he was going too fast,” Mrs. Jephson said.

However, Dunedin woman Di Harvey disagreed. “It didn’t feel too fast to me. It just felt to me that his brakes and wheels locked up and he didn’t have much choice. I thought he did really well.”

All the passengers were stunned, she said. “Some people were really upset. The guys from Shotover [Jet] were up there instantly and they were helping people out of the bus,” she said.

Passengers were taken to Cavell’s Cafe at the Queenstown Rafting base where they were treated and interviewed by police. Constable Terry Wood said a Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit would examine the scene and bus to determine what went wrong.

The driver had worked as a bus driver for many years, the last three with the Connectabus company.

“It was very wet and he [the driver] has locked up. He’s just been able to stop. If he hadn’t hit the tree we would be looking at a different scenario,” he said.

Connectabus managing director Ewen McCammon said the company was co-operating with the police and relevant transport authorities over the cause of the incident.

He said it was raining hard at the time and a slippery road surface appeared to have been a contributing factor.

He would not discuss the incident further until all investigations were complete.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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