A friend of one of the five people killed in September's Kaikoura boating tragedy says the community is honouring the late woman's love of dance.
Lower Hutt woman Susan Cade died, alongside four others, when a charted boat capsized at Goose Bay, near Kaikoura on September 10.
The group were members of the Nature Photography Society of New Zealand and had travelled to Kaikōura for a field trip with the aim of photographing the coastal environment and wildlife including birds and seals.
A Givealittepage has been launched to raise funds for a dance scholarship for adults, in honour of Cade.
"Since the Kaikoura tragedy that took away our Susan, a dedicated dance student at the Feet with Heat Dance Studio and a dancer from a young age, we have decided to dedicate a scholarship fund in her honour.
"Susan was a gifted dancer who excelled in most dance styles. This year she was on a new journey to add to her repertoire Lindy Hop Swing, a dance of the 1930s that included Charleston."
Friend and dance teacher Jo Matsis said Cade had been training for her first medal in Lindy Hop Swing, before the tragedy cut her dream short.
"So we thought, this happens, often people have a dream, and they can't actually get to it because either they can't afford it or they get sick or like Susan's case, they don't quite make it to their full life term," she said.
"We decided to run a scholarship for people who might want to enjoy some dancing or want to come back after they've raised their children for 20 to 25 years, and decide that, 'Hey, I want to get back to what I used to do'."
Cade said her friend's death was still being keenly felt.
"It's a huge, huge empty gap for everybody... it's really hard," she said.
"She had a huge heart."
The page is aiming to raise $50,000 dollars for the scholarship,
Funds will be used to pay for dance classes, private lessons or dance exams.
