Tourist slammed over 'incredibly stupid' cave break-in

A Ngai Tahu archeologist has hit out at a German tourist who broke into a protected Maori site, photographed herself inside and posted it online.

The tourist posted online pictures of her visit to Maerewhenua Maori rock art site in South Canterbury in which she climbed around protective barriers, the Timaru Herald reported.

Ngai Tahu Maori Rock Art Trust curator Amanda Symon, who had been looking after the site for six years, was shocked and disgusted at the "incredibly stupid" actions of the tourist.

"They have come here and desecrated one of our heritage sites. It is just completely thoughtless to squeeze in there. She is brushing past a rock drawing so there is huge potential to do damage," she told the paper.

The paintings depicted at the site ranged from birds and reptiles to European sailing ships.

However, the tourist, posting at travel weblog site Travelpod.com under the name Silberregen, yesterday wrote a rambling response to the media report.

She said she treated the protective barrier as a puzzle and didn't damage anything. She also slammed global media as an executioner and "biggest damn power... on this planet" and told people to worry about "things that really matter".

"And then was there the temptaition (sic) of the fact that somebody must have managed to get into a so it seamed well secured place.

So we started wondering how hard can it be to go in there. It was more the fascination of solving a riddle than to actually get a prize for it. It wasn't hard after all," she wrote.