Wellington - A French hitchhiker has admitted to wilfully damaging road signs after becoming furious at being stuck in a tiny New Zealand town for four days without a ride, local media reported on Tuesday.
Cedric Rault-Verpre, 27, apparently lost the plot after his long wait, allegedly ripping a road sign out of the ground and throwing it in a river, and also pelting another sign with large stones.
He told the Greymouth District Court that no one had even offered him water during his long wait in the tiny tourist town of Punakaiki on the west coast of the South Island.
Police offered scant sympathy for his plight.
Senior Sergeant Paul Watson told the Westport News that "he could have started walking, he would have been in Franz Josef (220km to the south) by now."
The frustrated Frenchman's actions are likely to cost him dearly, with road contractors Fulton Hogan seeking 3,000 New Zealand dollars (2,200 US dollars) in damages.
dpa