Goose Bay near Kaikōura. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
One of the women who died in the Kaikōura boating tragedy has been described as an adventurous spirit who loved gardening and the outdoors.
Lower Hutt woman Susan Cade was among the five killed when a vessel - chartered for a birdwatching trip - overturned on Saturday.
Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) is investigating, in conjunction with Maritime New Zealand and police.
Single mother Urmila Kumar raised her two daughters on a quiet, leafy street in Lower Hutt.
Susan Cade lived next-door and in the 24 years they were neighbours she became part of the family, Kumar said.
"She was kind-hearted, very friendly, she was always offering things from her garden."
That garden reflected how much Cade loved the outdoors.
Kumar's adult daughters Ashna Narayan and Kanjna Morar remembered how they were warmly welcomed there as children and would run over to take lemons from the tree.
The neighbour they fondly call 'Susie' was always outside, even if that meant gardening in the dark with a head torch.
"She liked the outdoors, very outdoorsy, you'd always see her canoes or her kayaks on her car or outside in the backyard," Morar said.
When Cade wasn't home, she was usually off on an adventure and the girls would look forward to hearing about on her return.
Narayan recalled: "You know as soon as she'd come down the road, she's come from an adventurous place somewhere."
Susan Cade's neighbours also remember how experienced and safety conscious she was on her trips away.
"She was always very safe, very conscious. She always had safety equipment with her when she would pack up her things," Morar said.
"We thought she would be one of those survivors that actually made it," her sister added.
Instead, a police officer knocked on the door of Kumar's home late on Saturday night and a friend of Cade's confirmed the news the following day - Cade, a keen photographer in her 50s with a background in mental health nursing, had died.
"It's heart-breaking," Kumar said, shaking her head and clutching her hands together.
It is a loss Cade's neighbours are still coming to grips with.
"We're still not believing it. We are still in denial," Narayan said.
Investigators are still trying to figure out how and why the boat capsized.
Cade's neighbours are among those waiting for answers.
"I think it's important to respect the family's privacy at this time but obviously just like everybody else we want some closure," Morar said.
Until then Kumar and her daughters are coming to terms with the loss of their neighbour and friend.
"You're almost just waiting for her to come back," Morar said.
They feel Cade would not want the incident to deter others from enjoying the outdoors.
"Adventure was her and she would want people to feel what she felt when she was out there," Narayan said.
