6 ...brought to you by the first-ever Mazda CX3. Tonight on Sunday, whatever happened to the runaway couple on the stolen yacht? Intelligent, charming, sinister. What did they take from you? (SOBS) My trust. My teenage years. Fugitives on the run with a bounty on their heads. What were you doing on a stolen yacht? Why don't you come home and face justice in NZ? One man tracked them down. My tolerance for scumbags is zero. Someone had to do something about it. And for the first time, their accuser. I'm not going to be quiet any more. Plus we are going to a very very special place. It is the lightning capital of the world. THUNDER RUMBLES There's no traffic noise out here, no television, no mobile phones, not even a washing machine, and the kids wouldn't know an iPad if they saw one. Meet the people who live under the world's biggest lightning storm. THUNDER RUMBLES The big flashes will sometimes blind you. When it gets to 150 per minute, it's like a bulb. And... All right. Good to go. Let's make some lightning. ...just why is lightning striking planet Earth more than ever? Three, two, one, fire! We are making lightning to order. Yes. Professor, you are playing god here. > Captions by Anne Langford and Desney Shaw. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2015 Kia ora. I'm Miriama Kamo. It was their getaway in a stolen yacht that put them in the headlines. But at first impression, Paul Bennett and Simone Wright came across as a charming, intelligent, capable couple. But to Erin Leighton, their charm held a sinister, sexual purpose. It's getting on to eight years since police issued a warrant for the arrest of Bennett and Wright. The allegation? That these two adults indecently assaulted Erin when she was just 15. Because of the nature of the alleged offending, Erin has automatic name suppression. She asked the court to lift that suppression so she could speak out tonight. Why, Erin asks, eight years later have neither Bennett nor Wright been charged. Erin Leighton says enough is enough. Here's Ian Sinclair. A runaway couple on a runaway boat to Australia. A 52-year-old man was later charged with receiving stolen property from outside New South Wales... He is locked up, but his wife is still walking free. What were you doing on a stolen yacht? Simone Wright and husband Paul Bennett are wanted in NZ for alleged indecent assault. Why don't you come home to face justice in NZ? And tonight, for the first time ever, their accuser faces the cameras. What did they take from you? > (SNIFFS) Um, my confidence, my trust. Yeah. Uh, my childhood, my teenage years. Yeah. Paul Bennett and Simone Wright; for years they traded on duplicity and deception until they ran up against the wrong man. My tolerance level for scumbags is zero. Someone had to do something about it. Erin Leighton has been seeking justice for seven and a half years. I was 14 when I met them. Young and innocent? Yes. Yeah, very much. Innocence that would be stolen, as Erin alleges, when two strangers crossed her path. What were their names when you knew them? Um, that is Paul Williams and Simone Williams. Yeah. Who were they really? > Well, I found out afterwards they were Paul James Bennett and Simone Wright. Yeah. A young Erin had her dreams of a bright future in motocross, and Bennett appeared right there to offer a helping hand. He was really good at, like, obtaining deals and gear and bikes and everything. Yeah. So he was someone in the industry that a lot of people knew and trusted. It's quite incredible ` he never slipped up or said anything that was weird or out of line. By 15, Erin was a bit of a tomboy, but she was growing up fast. So I was getting of an age where I wanted to be a bit more girlie. Yeah. So he just said, 'Oh, you'd love my wife, Simone. Yeah, she's, um, she's really cool,' and she was a lot younger than him too. And looking back now from the point of view of an adult, what do you see Simone's role in all of this? The one that sucked me in, really. Yeah. I never would've gone to his house, you know, if he was just some guy. I wouldn't have gone and hung out with him, you know? She bought me a dress once that I really liked and couldn't afford at 15, and, yeah, she paid for it. Make-up? Make-up, yes. All make-up. She bought that for you? Yep. Yep. Some real nice pair of jeans, shoes. Like, everything. Boots. You know, all the nice fashion accessories, I guess. Yeah. But where was this heading? She said that they had a connection with me. A relationship? Yeah. Simone said that to you? Yeah. What did that mean? At 15, God knows. I, was like, 'What?' And I think they could kind of see I was little bit freaked out by it. Then, she alleges, things went bad. Very bad. And, yeah, and then they assaulted me, sexually assaulted me. They sexually assaulted you? Yes. Both of them? Both of them. Next day, she was too afraid to tell her father, but she had to tell someone, so she confided in an ex-boyfriend. And how did he react? Pissed. Really angry. Yep. He wanted me to tell my father, which I did. Yep. And then they took me to the police. The police issued arrest warrants for indecent assault, but they failed to locate Bennett and Wright. What do you make of their handling of the case? Poor. Why? I don't think enough was done to find him, and they quite quickly gave up on searching for him. How did that affect your teenage years? (SIGHS HEAVILY) It made me angry, really angry and scared. The police said that these people have never done anything like this. They must've been obsessed with me, and as a kid knowing that they were out there and supposedly obsessed with me, scared me. After the break, uncovering Bennett's past. REPORTER: Police in Scotland would like to speak to Paul James Bennett. And the hunt for Bennett and Wright. The multimillionaire-turned detective. I upped the reward from 10,000 to 50,000, and-and got a tremendous result. s Part two of the Bennett and Wright saga begins with Mike Jacomb, a multimillionaire businessman and his beautiful gold Rolex watch ` a watch that caught Paul Bennett's eye. You're a highly successful businessman, a pretty astute guy, how did he manage to fool you? The guy is very plausible, extremely knowledgeable and quite likeable, but it's skin deep. For starters, they didn't call themselves Paul Bennett and Simone Wright. Remember, Erin Leighton knew them as... Paul Williams and Simone Williams. Yeah. Who did you first know these people as? Uh, Dave Kite and Sarah Kite. It was that Rolex that reeled Mike Jacomb in. Dave Kite, as I knew him, he, or his wife, and it is his wife, Sarah Kite, had advertised on Trade Me that they not only sold Rolex watches, they also serviced them as well. And they fixed his. In fact, I've got the Rolex watch here now. It's, uh, it's going well and has continued to do so. On many things, Bennett had played the instant expert. I own a few helicopters, and he said, 'Look, the ones to own are... are Squirrels,' and, 'They're the business.' And, uh, and he was right, and they are very good machines, and things evolved from there. Can he fly? He can fly and he can fly well. He hasn't got a licence, but he can fly very well. He was flying people without a licence? He was flying Russell Crowe for a long time without a licence. He landed his helicopter unannounced at Russell Crowe's farm. Russell Crowe was impressed with his bolshiness and the cheek of the guy, and then found that he was a likeable rogue in many respects. And he flew my helicopters without a licence, unbeknown to myself. Mike Jacomb claims when he let Bennett and Wright get involved in his helicopter business, disaster struck. How much do you believe he took you for? Well, a combination of parts that were stolen and on-sold, and company funds that he diverted, it's probably a quarter of a million dollars. But, again, the duo had vanished before police responded. At that point then I'm very annoyed. What was it that made you decide that you were going to relentlessly pursue them. Was it just the money? Well, my tolerance level for scumbags is zero, so a combination of that; catching me for quarter of a million dollars ` the embarrassment. Mike's search began on social media. And I put up a reward of $10,000. The phone started to ring. One of those phone calls put him in touch with Erin. He picked on the wrong guy, huh? He picked on the wrong guy, yep, this time around. Yep, totally. Through Erin, Mike discovered the couple had been on the run for years ` evading arrest warrants for indecent assault on Erin at age 15. There was outstanding warrants from back in 2008. Well, I realised just how serious this guy is and that he needs to be caught. And hence I upped the reward from 10,000 to 50,000, and got a tremendous result. That's what made it hard for Bennett to get anywhere after that. Yeah. Mike now discovered their true identities. I found out it wasn't Dave Kite or Dennis Kite for that matter, or Sarah Kite or Sarah Shore for that matter. The real person was Paul James Bennett. Police have acknowledged to Sunday that they have received 20 complaints against Bennett and Wright. The total amount of money alleged missing? Around $2 million. I mean, if the police had caught up with him way, way back, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. When it came to money, says Mike, Bennett did the schmooze and Wright handled the accounts. She was the money person. She was the banker to live the lifestyle that she feels she's accustomed to. Sunday has obtained Australian police documents alleging years before he joined forces with Simone Wright, Paul Bennett was already playing a game of cat and mouse with law enforcers across the globe. Hello, and welcome once again to Crimewatch UK. Police in Scotland would like to speak to Paul James Bennett. 1989, and the UK's Crimewatch puts out a national alert on Bennett. He has a strong NZ accent. The Brits missed him that time, but the Aussies tracked a trail of fake passports and deception that extended to the USA, the UK and back. Jumping bail in Australia in 1990, he flees to South Africa and is deported to Britain where he hits the headlines again. Amidst a scandal over his extradition, Bennett walked free that time too. < How does he do it? Knowledgeable, likeable and, um, and very convincing with the story, and he does his homework. < Intelligent, then? Yes. Very much so. Yeah. Did he convince you as well? He convinced everybody. He convinced me, he convinced his lawyers, he convinced my friends, my family. She's a former long-term partner of Bennett from the '90s who doesn't want to be identified. He had some interesting stories to tell, then? Yes. Lots of interesting stories. First, there was his Hollywood story. That he used to fly for a TV series called Magnum PI, that he was one of the main helicopter pilots on that. True or false? False. How do you know? I phoned up and found out. She says she left him after she found the truth in his briefcase. I found a collection of multiple identities for him: passports, driving licences, pilot's licences. So, he'd taken other people's names off and pasted his own name on top. Most disturbingly, she says, she'd discovered he had taken out a $500,000 insurance policy on her life. That was not the man that I thought I knew. So who then, in your opinion, is the real Paul Bennett? A monster. He is... He is not somebody that I fell in love with, met, wanted to settle down with. It was just horrible. It just made me feel sick. She's just a part of the picture Mike Jacomb pieced together as he investigated Bennett. We traced him all round NZ into Queenstown, Dunedin. We found he was in Whangarei. Security camera footage shows Simone entering a local shop. Then a yacht called the Harlech is stolen from its Northland mooring. I've got no doubt in my mind Bennett will be on board. Next up, the Australian bolthole, and why is Simone Wright walking free? What were you doing on a stolen yacht? Can you tell us that? And confronting Paul Bennett himself. I was surprised he actually wanted to see me. He was sitting on a seat in amongst other criminals. Back now to Sunday's investigation into Paul Bennett and Simone Wright. The runaway couple on the stolen yacht turn up and hit the headlines. From Australia, the news flash. They'd found the stolen Kiwi yacht, the Harlech. It's a great job and we're talking about the power of social media and things, so we're really pleased that that's how things have panned out. On the other side of the Tasman, Australian police received a phone call from an eagle-eyed teenager who had seen a yacht right here on the northern New South Wales coast that fitted the description of the Harlech. There's a photograph of a surveillance-type photograph he took through a telescope with a mobile phone. Tracked it from hilltop to hilltop at Sydney. Mike Jacomb's hunch was right. I got a phone call, 3 o'clock in the morning, from Australia to say, 'We've got that yacht, and Bennett and his wife are on board.' I was over the moon. Mike Jacomb's social media campaign, his $50,000 bounty on the heads of Wright and Bennett, had paid off. A 52-year-old man was later charged with receiving stolen property from outside New South Wales and an outstanding warrant. So Bennett was in custody, but in Australia, facing Australian charges dating back to 2003. And as Sunday found, his wife Simone Wright is still walking free. Unbelievable. Yep. As I say, she said she thought that the yacht was bought with Lotto winnings. Stepping out in broad daylight, wanted for alleged indecent assault and fraud in NZ, Simone Wright has found a bolthole at her mother's Australian home. Just... Just sucked me in. Just took advantage of me. Took advantage of me being so young and innocent. Yeah. More than seven years since police issued a warrant for the couple's arrest for indecent assault, Erin is still waiting for justice. Well, in my eyes, like, she's been on the run for all this time. She's used false names. I don't understand why... why they couldn't hold her, and, you know, I just don't understand how, you know, it's OK that she walks there free pretty much. Meanwhile, NZ police have visited Simone Wright to ask her to return to face charges. They went over there pleading for her to come back of her own volition. Well, she's never doing that. They're going to have to extradite her. She's an Australian citizen. What do you think of that approach? Pathetic. So Sunday decided we would put the question ourselves. Hi, Simone. Ian Sinclair from Television NZ, the Sunday programme. What were you doing on a stolen yacht? Can you tell us that? Well, what do you have to say to the accusations that you were involved in assault of a female? Our questions were met with silence from Simone. Do you deny your involvement with Paul Bennett in fraud? < Why won't you come home to face justice in NZ? And what of her husband, Paul Bennett? Recently, Mike Jacomb confronted his quarry in a Sydney jail as he awaits trial on Australian fraud charges. So when you walked into that prison and you saw him behind bars at last, what did you think? I was surprised he actually wanted to see me. Um, he was sitting on a seat in amongst other criminals. He was in white overalls. He's lost a lot of weight. He's grown a beard. Mike didn't discuss Erin's complaint. He wants Bennett to eventually face justice in NZ for that. But they did discuss his life of deception and false identities. He shook my hand and said that he was very sorry about what's happened. 'I don't know why I've done it. I just can't help myself.' And I think in the two hours I was there, he said sorry 10, 12 times. As for Erin, she can't thank Mike enough. How would you describe his role and his handling of all of this? He was... He led the manhunt, yeah. He was the leader of the manhunt, and he's a hero. Yeah. (SOBS) < How does that make you feel? (EXHALES) Sad, joy, you know, happy. But until Bennett and Wright face justice in NZ, it's not over. Not yet. What will bring it to an end for you? > Just to get them in court, yeah, and face them. You wanna face them? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I want them to pay for what they've done. So, any trial in NZ could be a long way off. NZ police deny they've dragged their feet. On the indecent assault claims, they will only say that an investigation is underway, but that they can't comment further because it's before the courts. On the fraud allegations, they say they launched a major investigation into Bennett and Wright across NZ as soon as police were alerted last year. However, no prosecution can proceed here against Bennett until the Australian justice system has run its course. Next, we travel to a very very special place beside the Andes. There's no television, no cell phones, the kids don't know even what an iPad is, but they do have one thing in abundance ` lightning. So, is that a good thing? THUNDER CRASHES I had experiences with the lightning. The moment that I met the lightning, you know, I met it and it met me. I can't imagine any one else in the world has seen more lightning than I have. I want to show you something. I want you to tell me about it. That's not easy. Welcome back. We're going to a place now close by the Andes in South America. It's a place that gets hit by as many as 40,000 lightning bolts every day, but could it also be the lightning rod for securing our future? More than 100 lightning bolts strike the surface of the Earth every single second. It's the cause of more than half the world's bush fires, and kills more than 6000 people worldwide, every year. Those stats will only worsen as the Earth warms, scientists say, but can this remote lightning-prone village-on-stilts show us how to use that energy to our advantage? Here's Denholm Hitchcock. LIGHTNING CRACKLES UPBEAT LATINO MUSIC Venezuela ` a country known for cheap petrol, an astounding number of beauty queens and easily, the worst taxis on Earth. But we're here for something else. And it's not an easy place to get to. UPBEAT MUSIC FADES, OMINOUS MUSIC BEGINS FLIES BUZZ ROOSTER CROWS There you go. Supplies. There. A couple of dinners in that one. There are no supermarkets where we're going. Our guide is Alan Highton, and he runs lightning tours. So, these waterways run all the way to your front door? Well, Denham, welcome to my driveway. (LAUGHS) I'll welcome you to my home in a couple hours. Thank you. OMINOUS MUSIC Well, there's remote, and then there's where we're heading ` deep into the Catatumbo Delta. We are going to a very very special place. It is the lightning capital of the world. FUNKY PERCUSSION MUSIC Very close to where we are ` just 20km north of here ` receives more than 250 lightning bolts per square kilometre per year. It's a world record. It's in the Guinness Book of Records. Lake Maracaibo is, in effect, a cauldron for lightning. To start with, it's huge ` the largest lake in South America. And out here, it's hot, and it's humid. The lake is surrounded by the snow-capped peaks of the Venezuelan Andes. And on sunset, the downdraught of cold air from this unique and near perfect semi-circle collides in the same spot every single night. THUNDER BOOMS, LIGHTNING CRACKLES Overwhelming. Overwhelming. It's so difficult to get your head around it when you're looking at something like that. The flashing is so intense, so fast. Big flashes sometimes can blind you. The frequency of the` of the flashing... When it gets to 150 per minute, it's like a bulb. It doesn't stop. It's like... You can't count the individual flashes after 150 per minute. This is our base for the week ` Alan's tin shed on stilts. And surprisingly, we're not alone. The nearest land is three hours by boat, but that hasn't stopped hundreds of fishermen and their families from calling this place home. They live with the lightning and the storms; live in a world that could be our future. Oh, for hundreds of years, people have lived out here, because it's very rich in fish, and that's the main activity. Their streets are waterways. Their cars are boats. That's right, yeah. Their kids are in buckets. Bucket bicycles, yeah. Every house in this village is on wooden stilts. Most of the homes are made from wood. It doesn't conduct electricity. You walk on these one at a time? Yeah, one at a time. Wouldn't want you to fall in and wet the people's potatoes. Yeah. So, I gather these spuds are hard to, uh, come by, Alan? Tell you exactly what these people here call it ` gold. It's gold. There's no traffic noise out here, no television, no mobile phones, not even a washing machine. And the kids wouldn't know an iPad if they saw one. It's quiet and it's simple. That is, until nightfall. They live underneath the world's biggest lightning storm right on time almost every night. LIGHTNING BOOMS, CRACKLES What does he think about living out here on the water? He says it's beautiful. Lightning out here is always beautiful, but they have to` they're always aware. If the storm gets too big, it can get dangerous ` a lot of bolts and wind, and it spins tornadoes as well. So they have to be alert nearly all night when it gets big, when it gets heavy. If Alan has seen more lightning than any person on the planet, close behind him is his daughter, Natalie. See yours? Oh, sweet. Sweet, just like your dad. (CHUCKLES) They do a lot more than just run lightning tours. They are the outside link to this remote community. (SPEAKS SPANISH) What are you trying to tell the villagers or tell the children? We are trying to teach them first that they live in an amazing place, that this doesn't happen in any place of the world. And the second thing is that the lightning has something special. I want to... show you something. I want you to tell me about it. Oh. (CHUCKLES) VOICE BREAKING: That's not easy. (SNIFFLES) I will try. (CHUCKLES) Are you OK? > Yes. Yes, I am. (SNIFFLES) Only if you want to talk about it. You have to talk about those things. (CHUCKLES) It's necessary. (SNIFFLES) Natalie has spent much of her life out here in remote Venezuela with her father. For her, there is calm within the storm. Eight years ago, one of my kids died. She had leukaemia. She had, um, 11 months when she died. With her, I learned how to communicate in other ways, because she didn't know how to talk. So I learned how to hear with my heart, because she was sick. So my dad once told me he had a great picture. He always take great pictures. (LAUGHS) And he showed me the picture. It's` He told me, 'It's like an angel, look.' And it's like an angel. It's beautiful picture. The photo was taken on the anniversary of her daughter's death. Like those who live on the lake, Natalie believes the lightning storms are trying to tell us something. What do you think the meaning is? That she is still... here. That she knows that I'm here waiting. (CHUCKLES) It's a message from her... Yes. Yeah. ...that she's still with you? That's she there. I showed her that photo today. As soon as I showed it to her, she cried. Yep. You really gave her a gift with that photo. (CHUCKLES) No. The lightning gave us that gift. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It seems to me that for you, you're not just watching the lightning when it happens; you feel something in here. The original inhabitants here believe in the spirit connected with this phenomenon. I've felt it. I've lived it. I've seen it. What did they believe? It is documented that the original native people said that this lightning here was a connection to their ancestors. And there's no better way to describe it. There's... Um, when my family members have passed away, lightning has gone nuts. And one time my best friend passed away, and the lightning went... baloney. It went absolutely berserk. On a big night, how many flashes are we talking about? Oh, we've calculated` um, we've calculated anywhere between 20,000 and 50,000, um, on good nights. On some extraordinary nights, you get up to 100,000 flashes. You get five or six different systems all working at the same time for several hours. So, even after more than 27 years, when you see one of those storms, it's like watching it for the first time? It's like watching it for the first time. Even better than watching it for the first time. LIGHTING CRACKLES Is lightning something dangerous, to be feared; or something beautiful, to be treasured? To me, the beauty and the treasure of it is what really` is what really counts, but, of course, if it's close enough... And people should learn how to calculate lightning. You see the strike, count the seconds. Every three seconds is 1km. If it's less than 2km away, go indoors. Very important. DRAMATIC MUSIC Isn't it amazing? The other amazing thing is we still don't really know how lightning begins. Scientists are desperate to know more, predict where it will strike, even control it. So to understand what's going on, we meet the professor who is creating lightning because the human eye can only see a fraction of what really happens. This incredible video was shot in super slow motion; so slow every second takes six minutes to watch. The cloud is bursting with energy and it is looking for a way out. All right, let's go! Let's make some lightning. We are making lightning to order. Yes. Professor, you are playing god here. > THUNDER BOOMS ELECTRONIC VOICE: Turn left on Lightning Strike Road. Guess I'm in the right place. I started studying lightning about 1963, so it's been over half a century. It's been a life's work for you? > Yes. THUNDER BOOMS, LIGHTNING CRACKLES Few people on Earth know more about lightning than Professor Uman. Lightning is just a long spark. It's not fundamentally different from the spark that you get when you shuffle across a rug on a cold day and put your finger to a doorknob, uh, except it's several kilometres long. It can be, actually, up to almost 100km long. And so fast, the human eye can only see a fraction of what really happens. This incredible video was shot in super slow motion ` so slow, every second takes six minutes to watch. These are called leaders. The cloud is bursting with energy, and it's looking for a way out. Usually, this part happens so quickly, we don't even see it. Eventually, one reaches the ground. The connection drains the cloud of its electricity. How powerful is it? Oh, probably 100 million volts, maybe a little more than that. The temperature of the lightning gets up to... about 30,000, 40,000 degrees Celsius. That's hot. > It's hot. It's hotter than the surface of the Sun. And all that heat and energy can be deadly. More than 100 lightning bolts strike the surface of the Earth every single second. Power grids go down. Electronics are fried. Lightning is the cause of more than half of the world's bush fires. Billions of dollars in damage. The human cost is also high. Worldwide, about 250,000 people are struck. 6000 people are killed. So, this is where the magic happens. Yes, it is. We shoot rockets from that tower there, and over here in the middle of the field. The professor is studying lightning to better predict where it will strike and when it does, how to protect planes, power lines, homes and people. It's quite an unusual place. There isn't any place else like it in the world. Well, from here, you're calling down the power of the heavens. Yeah. Not quite sure where the heavens are. The professor and his team are doing something remarkable. Must be quite a sight. It is, yes. Gonna see it in a minute. (CHUCKLES) They are creating lightning. I know there's a lot of science involved, but that looks like a giant firework. Yeah, well, I mean, it's... We've got a motor at the bottom. It puts out a lot of power. I mean, this thing goes up 300m, so there's quite a lot of juice in it, yeah. Yeah. And this is the spool at the bottom here? This is the copper wire? Yeah. And so this will, um` This is Kevlar coated, so it's high-tensile strength. And literally, the lightning runs down the length of this wire? Yep. Exactly. That's what it does. That's incredible. Yeah. All right, let's set this thing off. All right, Robbie. Mostly, we're interested in the physics of lightning itself ` how it works, how it propagates, why it decides what it's gonna strike on the ground, how exactly the striking process takes place. All right, good to go. Let's make some lightning. You're making lightning to order. We're making lightning to order, yes. Professor, you're playing God here. > Well, I don't want to take on that role, but... We're trying to measure things. We're not just doing it to trigger lightning. All right, three, two, one. Fire. The rocket takes off, trailing the wire. Then as it reaches the cloud, the lightning bolt is attracted to the metal. What is that you hope can be done with this information? The simple answer would be control of the weather. It would be good to be able to predict lightning. If we knew exactly how it was started, we could maybe stop it. If lightning is coming over some facility or some town where you didn't want it, you could turn it off. So that's not out of the realm of possibility in the future. Shouldn't nature sometimes just be left alone? > (LAUGHS) I don't know. I think you don't go to school to get a science degree to leave nature alone. LAUGHS: The whole idea is to try to figure out how she works better. Ice and moisture colliding within the cloud creates the electric charge that becomes lightning. The bolts can go from cloud to cloud, from cloud to ground and incredibly, from the earth up. But science can't explain everything. The major thing we don't know is how it gets started in the cloud. How is it with all this modern technology, 50 years worth of work,... Yeah. ...that we still don't know how a lightning bolt begins? > Yeah, that's interesting, isn't it? It's a very hard measurement to make. I mean, it's hard to get up into the cloud to know exactly what's going on. It's hard to make the measurement remotely... Still a mystery. Yeah, it's a mystery, but maybe some smart theoretician in the next 10 years or so will get close to the answer. Pretty much a scientifically validated fact ` the Earth is warming. An increase in temperature means an increase in lightning. It's estimated for every one degree the planet warms, there will be a 12% increase in lightning. Some predict at current rates, by the end of the century, we will have 50% more lightning strikes. BOOM! What does that mean for the planet? Well, it means there's gonna be lots more wildfires ` what you call bush fires ` and there's going to be a lot more house fires; there's going to be more damage; there'll be more people killed. There is no doubt about the Catatumbo Delta in Venezuela. It remains the lightning strike capital of the world. And if the Earth's temperature continues to rise, we could learn a thing or two from this remarkable place. Those songs that you were singing that brought on the lightning storm, will you sing those for us tonight? (LAUGHS) I try, yeah. Yes. Yeah, I try. (CHUCKLES) (SINGS IN SPANISH) LIGHTNING CRACKLES DRAMATIC MUSIC Scary but beautiful. Now, have you heard that lightning never strikes the same place twice? That's a myth. Lightning can strike any place more than once. Finally tonight, an update on a story we brought you earlier this year ` 'rowergate'. Remember, that's the scandal that erupted after two schoolboy rowers were caught riding an airport baggage carousel. The boys were detained by police, then banned by their school, St Bede's in Christchurch, from taking part in the prestigious Maadi Cup regatta. But their parents successfully and controversially applied for a High Court injunction to overturn the school's decision, allowing the boys to row. The fallout kept coming, as Janet McIntyre reported back in July. The boys' coach, former Olympian Dave Lindstrom, was sacked from both Rowing NZ and St Bede's. And I've had a record of, um, achieving results for Rowing NZ, and so till this day, I still can't see why I was even brought into it. Dave Lindstrom says he still has more to give to rowing, but he doubts it will be in Christchurch or even NZ. 1972 with the Olympic team. I was picked in the coxed four. His long association with both Rowing NZ and his beloved old school is over. Uh, yeah, it's particularly hard with St Bebe's. Yeah. Rowing NZ I can accept, you know, but, um, St Bede's... (SNIFFS) Happy news for Dave Lindstrom. After our story, he was approached by another school, Wanganui Collegiate, and offered a job ` head rowing coach. Dave will be moving north in a few weeks with next year's Maadi Cup in his sights. Collegiate has won the event more times than any other school. That's our show for this week. Join us on Facebook and Twitter, Sunday TVNZ. Thanks for joining us tonight. Nga mihi nui, hei kona.