THE parents of 24-year-old Sam Green spent a month exploring the country their daughter fell in love with - the country where she died.

Gill and Stewart Green went to New Zealand to see the sights Sam had seen, and spoke to the people she had met.

Sam was killed in an accident on the west coast of South Island last summer when the car she was driving left the road and rolled over.

She had been travelling around New Zealand after leaving her job in this country to "follow her dream".

At the end of November her parents, of Brayton, near Selby, flew to New Zealand to retrace their daughter's footsteps in the weeks leading up to the tragic accident.

Gill, 54, said: "Going out there was something we both had to do. We went to meet people she had stayed with, to find out why she fell in love with the country, and to visit the place where she died.

"Nothing will ever help us put this behind us, but it was a good trip, and I'm glad we did it."

Gill - who, like her daughter, is terrified of heights - even took part in a 12,000ft skydive with the same instructor who taught Sam.

She said: "I told myself I was going to do it for Samantha, and I did it. It was the most amazing experience, and it is my way of remembering her."

Friends of the former Tadcaster Grammar School pupil had raised money for a memorial bench on the banks of a lake near the scene of the accident.

Her parents organised a barbecue attended by 50 people from across New Zealand to inaugurate the bench, and scattered some of their daughter's ashes there.

Gill added: "Since we got back from New Zealand, life hasn't been easy. We have mostly been working, keeping ourselves busy - but we both know we will never be able to move on from this."

However, visiting New Zealand did make Stewart and Gill understand why their daughter had decided to go travelling in the first place.

Gill said: "If one of us wants something we will now do everything in our power to do it.

"We know Samantha was following her dream, and I would urge anyone her age to do the same. Don't worry about money - just go. You never know when the chance will be taken away from you."

Updated: 10:34 Monday, January 02, 2006