'Sorry we offended,' rock art tourist says

BY EMMA BAILEY

Last updated 05:00 05/03/2010

Supplied

ANTICS: The tourist breaks in.

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The German tourist who took pictures of her friend breaking into a sacred Maori rock art site in South Canterbury has apologised after being bombarded with criticism from angry Kiwis in comments posted on her travel website.

The Ngai Tahu guardians of the Maerewhenua Maori rock art site near Duntroon reacted angrily when it was revealed on Wednesday the tourists had broken into the site and then posted pictures on the internet.

The tourist, Yvonne Just, took pictures of her travelmate climbing past the protective wire cage around the rock drawings and then inside the site.

On Wednesday she was unrepentant, saying that she had just bent some wire and saying there were more important things to worry about.

Since then Just has been vilified online with close to 100 comments mostly venting disgust at her actions, and only a handful in support.

The blog and pictures have since been removed.

Just said yesterday: "I am truly sorry we offended people. It never was our intention.

"We never destroyed anything," she said.

She also apologised to Maori for any upset she had caused.

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- © Fairfax NZ News

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