"Like a comedy film" was how the plight of an Asian tourist whose car was claimed by the sea at Katiki Beach south of Moeraki on Thursday was described by a passing motorist.
Trevor Lewis was travelling from Dunedin to Oamaru when, about midday on Thursday, he saw the rental Toyota partly drowned by the sea at the northern end of the Katiki straight off a parking area near the approach to the overhead bridge on State Highway 1.
To make matters worse, when the drowned vehicle was finally pulled out by a local farmer using a large tractor, it was discovered the tourist had locked his keys in the car and could not rescue his luggage from the boot.
Mr Lewis spoke to the Asian driver of the car, who told him he had stopped at the car park and driven to the edge of the beach to get a better view. The car got stuck in loose sand, so he thought he would drive out on to the beach to turn around, then go back to the car park.
Unfortunately, he went too far and the car got stuck in wet sand facing an incoming tide.
Within about 20 minutes, the sea had flooded the car.
A man driving a small truck tried to pull the car out, but it was stuck fast. Help was sought from a neighbouring farmer, who drove his tractor to the beach.
"Even that had trouble pulling it out," Mr Lewis said.
When Mr Lewis left, the driver was waiting for a tow truck to collect the vehicle after contacting the rental car company.
"He got all the luggage out of the inside, but then somehow managed to lock the keys inside and couldn't get into the boot. I told him he would never forget his trip to New Zealand."
Mr Lewis did not know whether there were passengers in the car.
