Fiona Phillips summoned help for husband Jeremy

Jeremy Phillips' wife Fiona was sitting on the beach near Maunganui Bluff in the north of the country when her husband slipped off his boogie board and disappeared into the sea.

A friend of the couple, from Tenby in Pembrokeshire, said they travelled to New Zealand on a belated honeymoon.

Mr Phillips, an ambulance technician, had been keen to visit the country because his father had there died three years earlier from a heart attack.

Colleagues from the Welsh Ambulance Service were told of Mr Phillips' death on Tuesday.

He had worked for the service since 1991 and was well-liked.

"Jeremy was a larger than life character who was much loved and respected by his friends and colleagues," said, regional ambulance officer, Mark Winter.

"Everyone in the ambulance service is devastated at what has happened and will miss him greatly.

"He was a much valued member of staff and we will do all that we can to support his wife Fiona and his family."

Mr Phillips' body was washed ashore on Sunday night.

The couple had been in New Zealand for two weeks and "loved the country", the friend said.

Mr Phillips went in boogie boarding on a part of the coast popular with tourists.

Frantic search

New Zealand Herald reporter Bridget Carter told BBC Wales Mrs Phillips had been sitting on the beach while her husband surfed.

"Suddenly she couldn't see her husband," she said.

"She asked some local people if they had seen him."

Mrs started frantically searching the beach for him, and local people alerted the authorities.

"A helicopter was searching overhead, police and firefighters came down to the beach.

"The search went on for about four hours. Mr Phillips' body washed ashore just before the sun went down," Ms Carter explained.

The area has been the scene of many drownings and there are warning signs on the beach telling visitors to consult local people about the conditions before going in the sea.

Lewis Hogan, who lives nearby, told the New Zealand Herald Mr Phillips had been boogie boarding at the most dangerous time, as the tide was going out.

"There is no way I would have gone in the water," he added.