“…the 72-year-old German avoided authorities and deportation back to his home country because he was always on the move.
Often police would turn up to a sighting not long after Ahrens had left.
This week, Ahrens’ luck ran out when he was finally sent home.
Wanted for questioning over an assault in Fox Glacier in 2004, he had been spotted by a member of the public at Aoraki-Mt Cook National Park -
- and was arrested by police as he was about to go out kayaking on the Tasman Glacier.
“He had been in the hills for a couple of days when we picked him up, so he was unshaven and pretty scruffy looking,” said Constable Joe Rush, a Twizel policeman who dealt with Ahrens.
“He said he used to take his sleeping bag and just go walking and sleep under the stars somewhere.
He had a great general knowledge of the South Island – he must have been to every little nook and cranny.
He was actually quite interesting to talk to.”…”
go to source/story>>>Overstayer spends 20 years in NZ outdoors – National – NZ Herald News
