Gainesville group in New Zealand is OK

GAINESVILLE - A group of ten people from Gainesville, on a New Zealand cruise, is okay, having still been at sea when the earthquake struck earlier this week.

All have connections to Mar Jac Poultry in Gainesville and the plant's Operations Manager, Joel Williams, said Wednesday "when the earthquake hit Christchurch, they were about a half-a-day away from their first port on the northern end of the island."

He said that put them well away from Christchurch and the epicenter of the quake." But Williams said Christchurch is on their itinerary as a port-of-call.

"They were scheduled to be in Christchurch for a day trip and excursion next week and it's unknown at this time whether they will be able to make that one port-of-call."

Williams says the group left Gainesville last Friday and is scheduled to return March 5. The cruise began in Sydney, Australia.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/2/236435