Christchurch mosque shooter’s bizarre trip to North Korea

Details have emerged of accused Christchurch mosque shooter’s world odyssey which included trips to North Korea and Pakistan.

Self-proclaimed white nationalist Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Harrison Tarrant is believed to have undergone a radical change during a backpacking odyssey that included trips to North Korea and Pakistan.

Overnight an extraordinary photograph emerged of Tarrant posing with a tour group visiting the Samjiyon Grand Monument in North Korea’s Ryanggang Province.

In the picture, a smiling Tarrant is seen crouching on one knee, looking like an ordinary tourist.

The 28-year-old Australian citizen living in Dunedin made a brief appearance in a New Zealand court this morning flanked by 11 security guards.

Tarrant has been accused of perpetrating the deadly shootings at two mosques that left 49 dead and a further 48 injured on Friday.

He has been charged with a single count of murder but is expected to face further charges as police investigations progress.

Tarrant, a former personal trainer who grew up in Grafton in northern New South Wales, is the son of a garbage collector father and English teacher mother.

Brenton Harrison Tarrant poses with a tour group visiting the Samjiyon Grand Monument in North Korea. Picture: Supplied

By all accounts the family was well liked by locals and the young Tarrant was considered pleasant but unremarkable.

He attended the local high school before scoring a job at Grafton’s Big River Gym in 2009.

In 2010 his father Rodney died from what is believed to have been an asbestos related illness at the age of just 49.

Within a year, Tarrant had packed in his job with big dreams of travelling the world using his inheritance and investments made during the bitcoin gold rush.

“Recently came into contact with a bit of capital due to the passing away of my father,” he posted on a stock forum in 2011.

“Really don’t want to lose the money as he paid for it with 30+ years of his life.”

In another forum entry a month later, Tarrant spoke of his soaring confidence, bragging about being the “strongest person (pound for pound) in my town)” and his desire ”play video games, snort coke and hire strippers”.

“Truthfully I am extremely confident in every situation but talking over the phone,” he wrote in the post, according to The Australian.

“I run fitness classes with 20+ people daily who do nothing but stare/ask questions and mimic my movements for 60mins and I enjoy it.

“My self respect is through the roof, I can truly do anything I put my mind to.”

Brenton Harrison Tarrant as a golden haired toddler with mother Sharon and sister Lauren. Picture: Supplied:

Tarrant’s father Rodney died in 2010 at the age of just 49. Picture: Supplied

By 2013 he was ready to leave Australia and advertised in a travel forum for a vehicle.

“Looking to buy sometime from the 2nd of June till the 9th June, willing to fly to any capital city in Australia to buy the van and pay by cash, direct debit or cheque,” he wrote.

It is believed he began his journey in New Zealand before travelling through south East Asia and China and then on to North Korea, India, Pakistan and Europe where he embarked on a road trip which took him through Portugal, Spain and France.

It was during this seven-year odyssey that friends have speculated he became radicalised.

Social media places him in Pakistan in October of last year and in North Korea, where he was photographed in a tour group visiting the Samjiyon Grand Monument.

What he got up to at those destinations will form a crucial part of the counter-terrorism investigation into his character and past, Nine reported.

Tarrant is pictured in Pakistan as recently as last year, according to photographs and messages posted online. Oddly for a man who allegedly carried out a massacre in the name of defending the “white race” from the “invaders”, Tarrant was hugely impressed by the predominantly Mslim nation.

In fact he rhapsodised about the country in a Facebook post, calling it ”an incredible place with the most earnest, kind-hearted and hospitable people in the world”, according to a social media post obtained by Heavy, which obtained a screenshot before it was deleted.

The message purportedly posted to social media by Tarrant. Picture: Supplied

Tarrant raved about Pakistan in a now deleted social media post. Picture: Supplied

Tracey Gray, his former boss at the Big River Gym, said Tarrant discussed his plans with her before he left.

“He had no specific destination,” she told the ABC.

“It was my understanding he was open to see the world, to see as many places as possible. He just wanted to experience different experiences.”

Tarrant’s former boss Tracey Gray told the ABC his world trip changed him. Picture: Supplied.

An obituary for Rodney Tarrant revealed he took his young family to Hawaii in 1991 so he could fulfil a lifelong dream to compete in the Hawaiian Iron Man triathlon.

“Rodney finished 334th out of 1400 competitors for the event that required competitors to complete a 3.8km swim, 180.2km cycle and a 42.2 km run,” the tribute said.

“In 1995 Rodney was selected in the Australian team to compete at the Japan Strongman Triathalon Championships where he finished 58th in a field of 1300.”

It concluded: “Despite his marriage breaking up not long after the birth of his second child, this didn’t deter Rodney, who remained committed to his children until tragically losing his battle with cancer.”

Ms Gray said Tarrant inherited his father’s interest in physical fitness and was devoted to his job.

“He was very good, very dedicated with his training,” she told the ABC.

“He would train a lot, and some could say quite excessively, but then he was passionate about health and fitness and making those changes in his personal space.”

Ms Gray described him as a model fitness instructor who went out of his way to help people and put in extra effort.

“I honestly can’t believe that somebody I have probably had daily dealings with and had shared conversations and interacted with would be capable of something to this extreme,” she said.