Hard Rain ...

"Wild wind and rain which lashed the lower North Island overnight continued to cause havoc today, with slips closing several roads in the region.

Wellington police Inspector Peter Stokes said a large slip had blocked State Highway 4 at Tapuwahine - about 10 Km north of Taumaranui today.

The slip covered both lanes and road-work crews were working to try to clear the highway, he said.

Mr Stokes said a number of slips along the highway had been reported and he warned motorists to expect long delays while the slips were being cleared." (Stuff)

A busy day....

The phone went at some ungodly hour this morning, "Tree down".

It was really blowing and very wet.

I dismembered the said tree, to the sympathetic toots from passing truckies.

The day got steadily worse, I got steadily wetter.

The crew were tackling small slips when I caught up with them, the boys on SH 4 were cutting their way out of town (Taumaranui) and said it was "like Armageddon over there".

We have a big clean up job ahead, culverts are blocked, there are small slips everywhere, and the potholes have awoken.

In the afternoon a truck blew an airline to his gearbox on a very dodgy corner on Mt Messenger.

This corner is notorious for this sort of thing. It is steep and they are changing from high to low range with the danger of a missed gear and an embarrassing stall. The surface is also greasy and they often break traction.

When they are heading downhill and braking hard they stress the road surface. You can see the damage in the foreground.

We were handy and directed traffic around the truck, which had to sit there and await a mechanic.


I have arrived here and seen a lone, very stressed, police officer going grey in front of my eyes, as all hell breaks loose.

The heavy uphill traffic doesn't want to stop and stall, the downhill traffic has it's fair share of would-be rally drivers, and trucks with hot brakes.

Chuck a few tourist camper vans into the mix and you have interesting times.

It's stopped raining, but the rivers are high, the ground saturated.

I don't think it's over yet ....