Krizia Egipto, 18, and her family flew to the capital city from their home in Invercargill last week and had their impression of a "beautiful place" ruined when they were belittled by a fellow customer at a Night 'n Day store on Manners St.
In a Facebook post, Egipto explained that as the family were buying coffee and Lotto tickets, a woman approached them and said they "weren't welcome here".
"While we were heading out of the shop this lady was giving us a look, a bad look, so I was just looking at her as well. But suddenly while we were just about to go out of the shop she said something to us," Egipto wrote.
"The lady said, 'Don't come back here any more. You're not welcome here. This is only for white people. This country is for white people only'."
Egipto said the comments made her feel annoyed, angry and hurt.
"I told the lady, 'Is this yours? Is this your shop?' And she didn't answer my questions. Then I told her, 'You're a racist'."
Egipto said the group were then approached by staff at the store and the "racist" woman was asked to leave.
However this wasn't the end of the tirade, because the family bumped into the woman outside of the store and the abuse continued.
"After that we went outside all ready to walk around the city. Then my Mum saw the lady again and she's being racist to us again," she wrote.
Egipto then began to video the woman, and question her as to why she felt they weren't welcome.
The footage shows the woman saying, "It's simple, no big deal. Go home. You have a country.
"You're displacing white people, like that man on the street," she said.
Egipto can be heard trying to explain that the family have visas and the legal right to be in New Zealand.
Speaking with the Herald, Egipto said she had never experienced this level of racism before.
Her family are orginially from the Philippines but Egipto has lived in New Zealand for four years, and her father for 14 years.
"There are other people who are not nice to us, but nothing as bad as that," she said.
"If it was just me, I would have probably shrugged it off, but I was with my family so it was not okay. As Filipinos we really value family."
However, a silver lining for Egipto was the support she received from people who witnessed the event, and others who have shared her Facebook post.
"There are still nice people who approached me and gave me a hug because they saw what I did to the lady," she said.
"One of them told me that what I did was the right thing, and that she was very proud of me. She said she didn't think she would have been able to do the same if it happened to her.
"Another lady also approached me, gave me a hug and also bought me an ice-cream. Their reaction was very good and they made us feel welcome.
"I have also been overwhelmed with support on Facebook."
Egipto said the incident had really hurt her feelings, and she encouraged others to stick up for themselves.
"We all have the right to stay in whatever country that we want to because we have our own visas and we did a legal process for us to have this," she wrote on Facebook.
"So whatever country you are from, please don't let other people discriminate against you.
"Stand up for yourselves and don't be scared. Whatever country that you came from and whatever colour you have, racism is not okay."
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I was in the Wellington CBD several months ago and witnessed a similar thing directed at my friend, by four roughly dressed people with a small dog.
Maybe it was because the abuse wasn't targeted at me, it was plain to me that they were either drunks or druggies but definately the down and out types that live on the streets. Sad fact is we have increasing numbers of people out there with frazzeled brains and all to often it is because they don't have a solid family which Krizia does.