A TRAVEL booking company has informed the husband of shark attack victim Christine Armstrong it would not refund a $1000 deposit for a planned trip, even though it demanded proof of her death.

Rob Armstrong contacted booking agent Camper Travel on Saturday, less than 48 hours after his wife died, to cancel a Darwin to Adelaide campervan trip they had planned for July. But the Cairns-based company requested proof his wife had been killed before telling him in an email that his ‘‘booking deposit is non-refundable’’.

WIDOWER ROB RETURNS TO THE WATER WITH FRIENDS

‘‘It’s not conscionable, it’s just so morally wrong,’’ Mr Armstrong said yesterday. ‘‘If the money doesn’t come back it’s not going to alter my life, but it alters my feelings about humanity. I haven’t experienced it in my lifetime.”

News_Image_File: Rob Armstrong (second right turning to camera) leads a group of the "Morning Swimmers" into the sea at Tathra Beach yesterday morning..

Mr Armstrong said he had been overwhelmed by the support of the community since his wife was taken by a shark at Tathra last Thursday, but was shocked by the company’s ‘‘lack of kindness’’.

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The couple had planned to fly to Darwin in July and travel in a campervan to Adelaide — a long-held desire of Mrs Armstrong. After his wife’s death, Mr Armstrong ­contacted Virgin Airlines to cancel flights and said he received a ‘‘beautiful’’ response offering him a full refund in a compassionate letter.

But his interaction with Camper Travel’s Philippines call centre was far less satisfying. Instead of offering him a refund on his deposit, Camper Travel suggested Mr Armstrong make a claim on his travel insurance to recoup his losses. A Camper Travel representative yesterday told The Daily Telegraph: ‘‘We cannot offer a refund but we are working on it.’’

Maui campervans, which was to provide the vehicle for the trip, yesterday agreed to cover the cost of the deposit.

“We will take care of the cancellation costs with our main objective to ensure Mr Armstrong receives an immediate resolution on this matter,” Maui spokeswoman Kate Meldrum said.

News_Rich_Media: A woman in her 60s has been killed by a shark near Tathra Wharf on the NSW south coast.

A KISS, A WALK INTO THE SEA, AND SHE WAS GONE Ashlee Mullany

ONE of the last people to see shark victim Christine Armstrong alive has spoken of the moment she lost her close friend.

Tathra Surf Life Saving Club president Judy Rettke said she gave Mrs Armstrong a kiss to welcome her back from holidays and walked with her into the water last Thursday. It was the last time she saw her friend of 14 years.

"We walked in side by side to have a swim," Mrs Rettke said.

"The last thing Chris said was a comment about the water being colder than what she thought it would be." Mrs Armstrong made the decision to leave the group, including her husband Rob, and turn back half way into their 800m swim. She didn’t make it to shore.

News_Image_File: Judy Rettke, President of the Tathra Surf Life Saving Club / Picture: Ray Strange

When Mrs Rettke returned to the beach, she realised her friend was not in the change rooms.

"I'm grateful I didn't see it," she said.

"We put the IRB in the water

and I rang for the helicopter. I was looking at the rocks with my binoculars hoping she would be

there but she wasn't."

Mrs Rettke described Mrs Armstrong as a "very caring, special lady" and said she and her husband Rob were the best patrollers at the surf club.

"When you think about Chris, you think about Rob, they're like a package. They come together," she said. "When I visualise Chris I visualise the waves and the wharf in the background. She just loved the ocean."

Mrs Rettke swam with the couple and had breakfast with them almost every day for more than a decade.

Yesterday, she returned to the water with a group of 20 others, including Mr Armstrong, to form a circle where the 63-year-old was taken.

Originally published as ‘Prove that your wife is dead’