The Student Volunteer Army (SVA) has deployed 40 volunteers from the University of Canterbury to help clean up Banks Peninsula.

A state of emergency was declared in the region on Tuesday, after it was hammered by nearly six times the average monthly rainfall in just 48 hours.

The request for volunteers came from Civil Defence on Friday night.

Despite the academic year beginning last Monday, SVA president Johann Torres was overwhelmed by how many signed up.

“We’ve only just come back to uni so it’s quite, you know, it’s nice that we have so many volunteers quite mobile straight away and very keen to help.”

The SVA will be working alongside other groups, such as Taskforce Kiwi, focusing on clearing silt from properties.

“We’re working quite closely with Civil Defence and some other volunteer groups like Taskforce [Kiwi] and we’ve essentially gotten a list of properties that we’re going to work on.

We’re focusing mainly on shovelling and wheel-barrowing silt from properties who have been affected by the quite recent flooding.”

Although State Highway 75 and telecommunications had been restored residents were still busy cleaning up the damage to homes and businesses.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

A brand of salami is being recalled after being produced without the required food safety control and oversight.

The three Zaroa NZ-branded products being recalled are Pure, Delicaté Salami Pohutukawa Smoked, and Hawke’s Bay Black Angus Beef Chorizo Salami.

Food Safety’s Vincent Arbuckle said dried and cured products must be carefully controlled as the manufacturing process does not involve a high-temperature cooking step that kills bacteria like salmonella and E.coli.

Where the products were sold:

• Hesari Supermarket Great North Road: 344 Great North Road, Henderson
• Hesari Supermarket Wairau Valley: Unit 15, 170 Wairau Road, Wairau Valley
• Keri Berries: 484 Kerikeri Road, Kerikeri
• Pegasus Bay Winery: 263 Stockgrove Road, Waipara, RD 2 Amberley
• Zaroa NZ stall: Parnell Farmers’ Market, 545 Parnell Road, Parnell
• Zaroa NZ online store

Arbuckle urged people to return the products to the place of purchase for a refund.

The products have been removed from store shelves.

There have been no reports of associated illness.

If anyone has consumed any of these products and have any concerns about their health, they should seek medical advice.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Just as he turns industrial waste back into good stuff for the earth, Matt Welton himself has come full circle.

The former prison officer and cartographer spent his first years out of school working in the scrap metal trade in London’s East End.

“Quite a lot of pressure on a young fella, going out knocking on doors to all these little scrap dealers and rag and bone men and whatever, with names like Jimmy Jighand and Pete Sparrowhawk.

“A good grounding, anyway, in how they sort of made a living out of nothing.”

Decades on from the early ’80s, he spends much of his time recycling waste and feeding it into a kiln in the heart of the rugged Akatarawa Valley, north of Wellington city.

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Welton collects the hops sludge left over from beer-making at Panhead Brewery in Upper Hutt, used wood pallets and forestry slash from his property to use as feedstock for the kiln, producing biochar.

Biochar is not unlike charcoal and is made from any sort of organic waste, and proponents say it improves the soil by helping it retain water and nutrients, sequestering carbon at the same time.

Welton has also partnered with the sustainability-focused fashion brand Kowtow, turning fabric from the cutting room floor into biochar, dubbed “black gold” by its devotees.

“[Kowtow] were looking at an alternative way of using their cutting room offcuts, rather than sending it to landfill, and so I said, ‘yeah, I’ll give it a go, we’ll try and make some biochar out of it’. It’s pure cotton. As long as it’s pure we should be able to turn it into char.”

He tests the char – produced via a technique known as pyrolysis – for impurities. Anything synthetic like elastic waistbands are a “no-no”, he said, as it can lead to higher readings of toxic elements like arsenic.

Welton took Country Life on a tour of his “biochar central”, a yard tucked into the side of a hill on his land, once covered in pine trees, which he is regenerating with wife Debbie into tracks and paddocks.

The couple has also placed 30 hectares of their block under a QEII Trust Covenant to protect the remaining native forest which escaped logging last century.

The Akatarawa Valley was a hive of sawmills and logging tracks up until the 1960s and remnants of the industry can be seen on Welton’s property.

They harvested the last of the pines when they arrived but mountains of slash were left behind by the foresters.

“They’ve taken the lengths they want, and then they just biff the rest over the side.”

The forest waste sowed an idea to turn it into something useful, and Welton’s venture Biochar Carbon Options developed from there. He now sells the crumbly mix, charged with brews of seaweed and horse manure, and sells it to growers and farmers.

Welton said he’s had several “Heath Robinson” moments developing the process, including happening on the idea of petanque balls – their heaviness good for pulverising the lumpy pyrolised waste in an old concrete mixer – so that the biochar is the right consistency for sprinkling on the earth.

“It’s a bit of a number 8 wire system, but it works.”

Welton can see the potential for such a system at landfill sites, taking all the green waste, as well as at forestry blocks.

“You could have mobile plants going up to forestry sites and converting [slash] into char, following the crews around. If you could talk to the crews and say, rather than throwing the waste to the left, can you throw it to the right, and then we can deal with it there.

“There’s so many different ways of utilising the product and utilising the waste, and, you know, getting involved with those communities that I just think it’s a no brainer, really.”

Learn more:

• Discover scientific research on biochar here

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Anisha Satya for Country Life

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It’s what’s underneath that matters at the Underground Festival.

The soil, how we treat it, and who it feeds were key focuses at the two-day educational retreat, held in the middle of a vineyard in Waipara.

Fran Bailey is the mind behind New Zealand’s “festival for farmers,” which draws heavy inspiration from her time at the Groundswell Festival in England.

“It’s a regenerative agriculture festival [run] over two days on a no-till arable farm. And, yeah, they get about 8000 farmers there.”

Regenerative agriculture – building resilient farm systems by doing things like restoring nutrient-depleted soil – has gained ground amongst Kiwi farmers in recent years.

So why not bring the Groundswell Festival to New Zealand, too?

Bailey was raised on a Tokoroa dairy farm until the age of six.

“I didn’t have anything to do with farming after that, when mum and dad sold the farm in the late ’80s.”

But she found her way back to farming while working in the UK.

“I ended up working at a regenerative farming podcast, and went to a regenerative farming conference,” she says.

“These farmers stood up and went ‘I’m an environmentalist too!’, and they were so passionate about biodiversity.”

The conference lit a fire under her to share environment-conscious farming stories, which she felt were underrepresented in media.

“I just thought, ‘farmers care about the land, and not enough people know about this’.

“I sort of put a stake in the ground to help tell their stories.”

Bailey spent three years managing public relations for Groundswell, before coming back to New Zealand and trying the concept out locally.

The Underground Festival 2026 is the first official event, and saw hundreds of people make their way to Greystone Wines’ vineyard over the two days.

“The farmers here, they vary from 500 hectare-plus sheep and beef stations, down to small market gardeners.

“We’re all coming together around an interest in soil health, and fertility, and how we can improve our soils to therefore improve the health of our plants.”

Given the success of this year’s event, Bailey’s mind has already turned to next year.

“Farmers are the salt of the earth; they are wonderful people, very practical, and I just want to help them tell their stories, connect, and keep making good progress.”

Learn more:

• Find out more about the Underground Festival here

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Six tertiary students have been awarded scholarships as part of efforts to support farmers and growers on-the-ground, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard have announced.

“This Government is backing the sector by supporting the next generation of on-farm advisers,” Mr McClay says.

“Our On Farm Support Science Scholarships are an important part of our efforts to ensure the sector can provide specialised on-the-ground expertise and advice for farmers and growers.

“The successful programme has already started producing the next generation of advisers with four of the inaugural 2024 recipients having secured roles.”

The 2026 scholarships went to students enrolled in agricultural science, commerce, or environmental sustainability degrees.

The recipients were Lincoln University students Cameron Brans, Jack Green, Eibhlin Lynch, and Fraser Wilson, Massey University student Ella Hogan, and University of Canterbury student Cecily Holland. Each will receive $5,000 for the year. They have an interest in dairy, sheep, beef, horticulture, and arable production.

“Recipients in the scholarship programme are also mentored by members of the Ministry for Primary Industries On Farm Support team, providing hugely beneficial experience and networking opportunities,” Mr Hoggard says.

“Farm advisers have a vital role to play in providing on-the-ground support to farmers and growers. These students are the future of the advisory sector and will help keep our food and fibre sector thriving.”

Note to editors:  
Biographies of the successful scholarship recipients can be found below.

Name: Cameron Brans
University: Lincoln University 
Degree: Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture)
Home region: Waipawa, Central Hawke’s Bay
Background: Cameron has an interest in sustainable meat and arable production and diversification on-farm. He’s seeking a career in an advisory role that combines scientific and business aspects of agriculture.

Name: Jack Green
University: Lincoln University
Degree: Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Hons)
Home region: Auckland
Background: Jack has been on an exchange at Cornell University (US) for a semester. His study in 2026 will focus on the growing complexity of data and software on New Zealand dairy farms. He’s seeking a career in agri-tech and farm consultancy.

Name: Fraser Wilson
University: Lincoln University 
Degree: Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture)
Home region: Gore, Southland
Background: Fraser was raised on a sheep and beef farm and is most interested in the sheep industry. He’s seeking a career in rural banking, agribusiness, and has a long-term goal of farm or agri-business ownership.

Name: Eibhlin Lynch
University: Lincoln University
Degree: Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Hons)
Home region: Whanganui
Background: Eibhlin was raised on a dairy, sheep and beef farm. She’s been on an exchange at University College Dublin in Ireland to learn how the country is tackling similar environmental challenges and consumer pressures within the agricultural sector. She’s seeking a career in farm advisory combining science and rural services.

Name: Ella Hogan
University: Massey University
Degree: Bachelor of Agricultural Science
Home region: Dannevirke
Background: Ella is passionate about supporting the sheep and beef sector through science-based advisory work. She is interested in connecting research and policy with practical farm management to help farmers build resilient, sustainable businesses.    

Name: Cecily Holland
University: University of Canterbury
Degree: Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Social and Environmental Sustainability
Home region: Wellington
Background: Cecily is interested in horticulture, regenerative agriculture, and helping growers adapt to climate change and improve soil health. She’s seeking a career to work as a sustainability consultant or adviser.

MIL OSI

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

• Fonterra expecting to distribute Mainland Group earnings as special Mainland dividend
• Fonterra confirms FY26 forecast earnings guidance from continuing operations
• Fonterra lifts 2025/26 season forecast Farmgate Milk Price midpoint from $9.00 per kgMS to $9.50 per kgMS

Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd has today lifted its forecast Farmgate Milk Price for the 2025/26 season and narrowed its forecast range.
 
The midpoint has increased from $9.00 per kgMS to $9.50 per kgMS, with the forecast range lifting and narrowing from $8.50-$9.50 per kgMS to $9.20-$9.80 per kgMS.
 
CEO Miles Hurrell says the Co-op has been able to make these changes based on recent improvements in global commodity prices combined with Fonterra’s well contracted sales book.
 
“As we have seen, global dairy prices have been volatile across the season. Following the declines at the end of 2025, prices have lifted in the last four Global Dairy Trade events.
 
“Global milk production remains above seasonal norms, meaning the risk of further volatility in pricing remains. As such, we continue to take a balanced approach with our Farmgate Milk Price forecast.
 
“Our team is focused on enhancing returns for farmer shareholders through the Farmgate Milk Price and earnings, by delivering on our strategy,” says Mr Hurrell.
 
Update on Mainland Group earnings
 
Fonterra is today advising that it intends to pay out 100% of underlying earnings generated by Mainland Group during FY26 while still under Fonterra ownership.
 
The earnings will be distributed through a special Mainland dividend payment to shareholders and unit holders following the completion of the sale to Lactalis.
 
“We are currently finalising our interim accounts and can indicate that we expect the special Mainland dividend to be in the range of 14-18 cents per share, which reflects the operating performance of the Mainland business during the first half of this year driven by ongoing cost management and favourable input commodity prices.
 
“This remains subject to the settlement date of the transaction and the finalisation of our financial statements and audit process.
 
“Fonterra’s FY26 forecast earnings guidance from continuing operations remains unchanged at 45-65 cents per share. It is intended that Fonterra’s dividend policy will be applied to these continuing earnings.  
 
“Our interim dividend from continuing operations will be confirmed when we release our FY26 interim results and an update on the special Mainland dividend will be given at this time,” says Mr Hurrell.
 
As previously indicated, Fonterra expects the transaction to be complete in the first quarter of the 2026 calendar year, subject to separation of the businesses from Fonterra and remaining regulatory approvals being received.
 
About Fonterra  
 
Fonterra is a co-operative owned and supplied by thousands of farming families across Aotearoa New Zealand. Through the spirit of co-operation and a can-do attitude, Fonterra’s farmers and employees share the goodness of our milk through innovative consumer, foodservice and ingredients brands. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, and we’re committed to leaving things in a better way than we found them. We are passionate about supporting our communities byDoing Good Together.

MIL OSI

Warning: The following story contains an image that may disturb some viewers.

A Northland farmer says more than 250 of his family’s sheep have been killed by roaming dogs, and he’s thinking of quitting sheep farming if the killing can’t be stopped.

His call for action comes in the same week a woman was mauled to death by a pack of dogs in Kaihu.

Finn Cook is the fourth generation of his family to farm near Kaeo in the Far North.

He said roaming dogs had always been a bit of a nuisance for their stock, but towards the end of last year, the problem got out of hand as hundreds of their sheep were attacked and killed.

“It’s pretty disgusting to walk out there and see sheep half chewed on, still alive, can’t move on the ground. Especially in the heat with the flies and stuff.”

Cook said his uncle had already had to give up on sheep farming because of wild dogs, and if Cook couldn’t find a solution, his family would have to do the same.

“We’re at a dead end. We don’t know what to do. We don’t know what support there is for us as farmers because the laws aren’t in anyone’s favour here.”

He has tried taking matters into his own hands and shooting the dogs but he said it didn’t make a difference.

“They just keep coming. The dog owners need to hold themselves accountable, they don’t post up that they’ve got missing dogs either. Because I’m sure they know their dog’s been up to no good.”

He also tried contacting dog control at the council, but said it was hard to get any action from them.

“You’ve basically got to visually sight the dog all the way home, prove where it’s living and then also prove that it’s been killing your sheep… for them to actually do anything about it.”

But Far North District Council’s delivery and operations manager Hillary Sumpter said in a statement that the council only had records of one complaint from Cook.

“If we gave Mr Cook the impression that the council would only act when it had video evidence, then I apologise – that is not the case,” Sumpter said.

The council needed good eyewitness accounts or other evidence linking a dog to an attack which would stand up in court, she said.

“Setting dog traps and focusing our patrols on problem areas are methods we use to gather evidence. It is not possible to monitor a property 24 hours a day.”

Whangarei woman Tracy Clarke also knows about the problems roaming dogs can cause – she has been afraid to even walk down her street since she narrowly escaped a pitbull coming after her.

“It’s only just a few metres away, and I knew that I was in bloody big strife to be fair. Within a split second, I just heard a woman scream at me to get in and she parked up beside me – it was actually a local courier.”

After that ordeal, Clarke delivered a petition to parliament, calling for the rules around dog control to be changed.

“The current legislation governing dog ownership and control came into force in 1996. I know that sounds just like yesterday but in actual fact, it was all written 30 years ago. Clearly, it’s no longer befitting.”

Cook agreed there needed to be law changes, but said the owners needed to take some responsibility.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Auckland councillors are split on what to make of the government’s sudden change of heart on intensification.

Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced on Thursday the number of homes Auckland Council must plan for would be reduced from 2 million to 1.6m, but only if it submitted a plan that was approved by the central government.

The need for approval from Wellington outraged Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown.

“We’re not doing this in order to go to the government and to the Cabinet and ask for their approval,” he said after the announcement.

“I mean, the Cabinet mostly don’t even live in Auckland, so that’s not going to happen.”

North Shore ward councillor and chairperson of the Policy, Planning and Development Committee, Richard Hills, agreed with Brown that the need to seek approval from the government was “very strange”.

“That was a bit of a surprise, we knew the number was being dropped but we were surprised this week that there would be some sort of intermediate phase where we would have to take the potential changes to Cabinet to sign off before they give us the legislation,” he told RNZ.

“The mayor’s been very clear that Auckland should not be going back to Cabinet, we are responsible to the people of Auckland, not Cabinet, so I’m not sure exactly how we’ll negotiate that out.

“It is a strange precedent, it’s normally left up to the different parts of the country to work out their own plans … I’m not exactly sure what the expectation is, I mean, what happens if the Cabinet don’t exactly agree with the direction of change? Will we have to go back and forward?”

The council also had little time to come up with the new plan, as Hills explained it had not been given an extension to its mid-2027 deadline.

“The end date for the plan being complete is still the same, so there’s going to be no extension on the other end, so whatever we do has to be quick, and it has to be quite focused on reducing some of the density in the outer areas of Auckland,” he said.

Another councillor, Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa’s Christine Fletcher, felt the government’s request was fair.

“I’m comfortable with the guardrails that the government are putting in place,” she said.

“We should have to justify where we’re looking to downzone, we should have to justify where we’re wanting the intensification, and so I’m quite comfortable with the process going forward.”

Anne Moore, an east Auckland resident neighbouring a controversial three-storey development in Farm Cove, was pleased to hear the target for intensification had been lowered.

She said recent intensification in the suburbs had damaged National’s reputation, and wondered if Thursday’s U-turn was a reaction to that sentiment.

“I talk to people every day out here, residents are saying they’re worried ACT and Winston [Peters] are going to get their votes. It’s really been a big issue out here in east Auckland particularly, and they’ve been voicing how they feel,” she said.

“They don’t want [intensification], or they want it done in a measured way and they want it done so we’re aware of what’s going on in our suburbs. [Ministers] don’t live where these things are happening and yet they won’t listen to the people that live there.”

Moore hoped the lower target would push the council to take a more considered approach.

“That was always the hope, that if they reduced the number that would mean the focus would be on central city and transport hub development, rather than turning every suburb into a three-storied townhouse situation,” she said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

MIL OSI

The multi-billion-dollar sale of dairy co-operative Fonterra’s consumer brands business is one step closer, as shareholders overwhelmingly approve another regulatory hurdle to the international deal.

More than 98 percent of the co-op’s 8000 shareholders voted in favour of the capital return scheme resulting from the divestment of Mainland Group, at a special meeting this morning.

In October, shareholders approved the proposal to sell the consumer brands business – behind well-known brands like Anchor, Kāpiti, Perfect Italiano and Fresh’n Fruity – to French dairy giant Lactalis.

This week’s vote was one of the various approvals needed for the international transaction of $4.22 billion to be completed, with more to go.

Shareholders would receive $3.2 billion once the sale was complete in one lump sum, while up to $1 billion would go back into the co-op.

Board chairman Peter McBride said in the meeting that the sale process was progressing, before an expected completion by the end of next month.

“Your co-op has been working to deliver the proposed capital return as quickly as possible,” he said.

“We are targeting a tax-free capital return of $2 per share to shareholders and unit holders, equivalent to around $3.2 billion, once the sale is complete.”

McBride said shareholders did not have to do anything to prepare, as the co-op would ensure their shares ahead of the deal remained unchanged.

“Subject to approval by shareholders, settlement of the transaction and receipt of final court orders, the co-op continues to expect the transaction to be complete in the first quarter of this calendar year.

“That is, by 31 March 2026,” he said.

A co-op spokesperson said it planned to invest up to $1 billion it would get from the sale into value-add projects across ingredients and foodservice, including the butter factory expansion at Clandeboye.

Fonterra co-operative chair and Wairarapa cocky John Stevenson said farmers would likely bank their dividends and pay down debt with the cash injection.

He said farmers will also keep a close eye on how Fonterra executes its new strategy as a global dairy ingredients supplier.

“I’m not surprised, I think the original vote on whether to divest or not was certainly the one where farmers put significant effort into understanding the proposal in front of them,” he said.

“Whilst an important part of the process is essentially in farmers’ minds re-confirming that they’re happy with the outcome of that in terms of the capital return and happy for Fonterra to continue in that direction.”

The payment would result in a lump sum payment for shareholders after the subdivision.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop has welcomed the Fast-track approval of thousands of new homes and a major economic boost in Queenstown. 

RCL Homestead Bay Limited lodged an application in June 2025 to construct 2,800 residential homes and a commercial retail precinct, which has now been approved by an independent panel. 

“Approval for this project took around six months from the panel’s appointment,” Mr Bishop says. 

“The project is estimated to contribute $720.3 million to GDP and support around 4,420 jobs during construction. 

“Over the last two decades, Queenstown Lakes has become one of the most expensive districts in New Zealand to buy a home, having the highest median sale price in the country in January 2026. Rental prices have also continued to rise in this time.

“The median sales price in Queenstown is around $1,000,000 higher than the rest of New Zealand. The supply of more affordable homes has not kept up with growth. This means long-term residents and temporary workers struggle to find affordable homes. 

“This development of thousands of homes will make a real difference in Queenstown, where demand for housing is high

“The development has also been designed to minimise pressure on existing infrastructure. The panel found the project’s infrastructure approach, including independent wastewater systems was adequate, and could, in future integrate with the council’s wastewater network.  

“This is the 10th project to be approved through Fast-track, and it shows the system is working to get much-needed infrastructure off the ground faster.”

Notes to editor:

For more information about the project: Homestead Bay. 

Fast-track by the numbers:

• 10 projects approved by expert panels.
• 19 projects before panels for consideration.
• 149 projects are listed in Schedule 2 of the Fast-track Approvals Act, meaning they can apply for Fast-track approval.
• 49 projects are currently progressing through the Fast-track process.
• 28 projects have been referred to Fast-track by the Minister for Infrastructure. 

Fast-track projects approved by expert panels:

• Homestead Bay [Housing/Land]
• Bledisloe North Wharf and Fergusson North Berth Extension [Infrastructure]
• Drury Metropolitan Centre – Consolidated Stages 1 and 2 [Housing/Land]
• Drury Quarry Expansion – Sutton Block [Mining/Quarrying]
• Kings Quarry Expansion – Stages 2 and 3 [Mining/Quarrying]
• Maitahi Village [Housing/Land]
• Milldale – Stages 4C and 10 to 13 [Housing/Land]
• Rangitoopuni [Housing/Land]
• Tekapo Power Scheme – Applications for Replacement Resource Consents [Renewable energy]
• Waihi North [Mining/Quarrying]

Expert Panels have been appointed for:

• Arataki project
• Ashbourne
• Ayrburn Screen Hub
• Bendigo-Ophir Gold Mine
• Green Steel
• Haldon Solar Farm
• Kaimai Hydro-Electric Power Scheme
• Lake Pūkaki Hydro Storage and Dam Resilience Works
• Mahinerangi Wind Farm
• Pound Road Industrial Development
• Ryans Road Industrial Development
• Southland Wind Farm Project
• Sunfield Masterplanned Community
• Takitimu North Link – Stage 2
• Taranaki VTM Project
• The Point Solar Farm
• Waitaha Hydro
• Waitākere District Court – New Courthouse Project
• Wellington International Airport Southern Seawall Renewal

MIL OSI

Residents of a Banks Peninsula town flooded for the second time in a year are questioning why the Christchurch City Council again waited until it was flooded before opening a nearby lake to the ocean.

Little River is again counting the cost of flooding after the town was inundated during the deluge on Monday and Tuesday.

The town of 300 about 30 kilometres south of Christchurch was flooded last May.

But residents said opening Lake Forsyth to the sea could have lowered the level of flooding in the town.

Little River Cafe and Store owner Cameron Gordon – whose business and home had been flooded – said it was clear that Lake Forsyth contributed to flooding in the town.

“Once that lake opened … it drained away pretty quickly,” he said.

“I wish they’d open the lake prior to these events every time. I don’t know what the science is behind their decisions but they seem to have their rules and guidelines about how they monitor all that. But it doesn’t seem to work for us and it seems to be the same story every year with the same excuses every year.”

Lake Forsyth is about a kilometre south of Little River and is fed by the Okana and Okuti Rivers.

The only thing separating its southern banks from the Pacific Ocean is the gravel of Birdlings Flat Beach and a canal connecting the lake and ocean that could be opened by diggers when needed.

The resource consent allowed the council to open the lake when it reached 2.3 metres above mean sea level in spring and summer or 2.7 metres in autumn and winter. But it could also be opened if a storm was predicted to bring it to that level or threaten inundation.

The council did open the lake on Tuesday afternoon after it had peaked at about 4.4 metres and Little River was already inundated.

Gordon said it came too late.

“I think [Lake Forsyth] played a significant role,” he said.

“I think it delays the water flowing away. I don’t think it stops the water coming into the building at first, but I think it definitely slows it receding which is the problem. I think if it was opened before this then we would have had a lot less damage and a lower level through the building. It still would’ve come in but it would’ve been a lot less significant.”

Lisa Ashfield, whose second-hand store had also been flooded for the second time in 10 months, said authorities seemed to be ignoring the experience of locals.

“From what I’ve noticed in 13 years of living here, we’ve had floods, the water’s up really high and you can’t get through the roads, they empty the lake and the water is gone within hours,” she said.

“For everybody to be saying it doesn’t make any difference if the lake is full or not, it doesn’t seem to make sense. It does seem to be that if we had a constant flow of water out of the village, while it’s raining, to the lake and to the ocean it probably could mitigate some of the flooding.

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger was not convinced and said the lake’s level was low before the deluge.

“It went from there to up in 36 hours. No one has seen rain like that there,” he said.

“It wouldn’t have mattered what level the lake was, the river – getting it to the lake – was the bottleneck and that’s why all of Little River township got flooded.”

Mauger wanted a diversion installed along the Okana River which could take excess water during heavy rain.

“The climate is getting worse. It seems to be that we’re having a 10-year rain event every three years or two years or whatever, so we’ve got to be starting to be ready for this,” he said.

“That’s why I’m keen on getting this diversion channel dug in the farmer’s land right next to the main road to bypass so it goes to the lake without ruining the road and people’s livelihoods.”

A multimillion-dollar barge and pump project – known as the Ocean Connection – that would allow continual flow of water between the lake and sea was also in its final design stage, he said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Banks Peninsula farmers and businesses are counting the cost of devastating flooding that swamped paddocks and swept through Little River.

The peninsula remained under a state of emergency although State Highway 75 from Christchurch to Akaroa reopened on Wednesday afternoon and telecommunications were restored after widespread outages.

About 120 properties remained without power and at least 15 local roads were closed because of slips and flooding.

Kinloch farmer Tom Power said the “mental” rain caused the worst flooding he had ever seen.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. It was predicted to be 100 millimetres or so and we ended up tipping out 430 millimetres in this catchment. It was chaos,” he said.

“I’ve never seen anything through Little River like that before and even up Okuti Valley, properties up there. It’s so widespread, it’s unbelievable.”

Power was dealing with stock losses as paddocks remained under water, with troughs and fences swept away and debris strewn across the property.

“We moved a lot of stock away to traditionally high areas that we’ve never seen go under water. We spent hours doing that beforehand and we were prepared for a lot of it, it was just the severity,” he said.

“We’re still trying to get our head around what the damage is, to be fair, until the water goes away you don’t really know.

“People’s livelihoods have been well and truly affected by this, which is a crying shame.”

In Little River, Déjà New Preloved Goods owner Lisa Ashfield had cleared mud and silt from her shop with the help of firefighters – the second time her business had flooded in 12 months.

“I imagine this is probably the end of the shop,” she said.

“All of my furniture, my bookshelves, my storage units, people’s home-made jewellery, toys, books, clothes, furniture. Everything is just a mudbath,” she said.

“I was flooded in May last year, about 300 millimetres, over the top of your gumboots kind of level. This flood, unfortunately, was thigh-deep. All the preparation we did on Monday, raising everything off the floor, just wasn’t high enough,” she said.

Ashfield was now sorting through stock to work out what to throw in a skip.

Little River Cafe & Store owner Cameron Gordon also spent the day shovelling mud and silt from the building after water gushed in on Tuesday.

He said food from the chiller had to be thrown away and fridges and freezers would need replacing but he hoped to open the store by the end of the day and the cafe by the weekend.

Gordon was heartened by the support of locals who were helping to clean up the mess.

“They’re pretty keen to get the shop back going and get us up and running again. We got a lot of calls, a lot of messages overnight with people offering help, a lot of tools brought down, water blasters, squeegees and brooms and random people I haven’t met before. It’s great,” he said.

Gordon said the cafe had flooded five times, most recently last May when a foot of water washed through some businesses, but he had never seen flooding so bad in his 20 years living in the settlement.

He said water in Little River drained away quickly once Lake Forsyth was opened to the sea on Tuesday afternoon.

“If it was opened before this I think we would have had a lot less damage and probably a lower level through the building,” he said.

“[The council] seem to have their rules and their guidelines about how they monitor all that but it doesn’t seem to work for us. It seems to be the same story every year, with the same excuses every year as well.”

Living Streams Community Nursery co-ordinator Nicky Steinmetz said raging floodwaters had left a layer of silt over the plants, leaving a months-long clean-up job.

“Most of our volunteers will be really upset about what they see. It’s the small seedlings that will be most impacted, rather than the bigger plants. We’ll be able to wash those down, but it’s going to take forever,” she said.

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell and Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger visited Little River on Wednesday.

Mitchell told RNZ the flooding was worse than in May 2025.

“They’re in the middle of their summer season so we’ve got to do everything we can to support them and get them back on their feet as quickly as we can,” he said.

Boil water notices remained in place for Little River and Wainui.

Mauger said the water supply in Wainui was “absolute toast”.

The council had sent Starlink WiFi devices to Akaroa and Wainui, although Chorus found and fixed a damaged fibre cable on a bridge that restored cell tower connections on Wednesday afternoon.

Students on two school trips who were stuck at Wainui and Ōnuku Marae had returned home.

Provisional figures from Earth Sciences New Zealand showed 243 millimetres of rain was recorded at its site in Akaroa in the 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday morning.

That was the highest 24-hour rainfall total for Akaroa in the month of February since records began in 1977, the organisation said.

Earth Sciences said Akaroa had received 316 millimetres of rain so far this month, making it the wettest February on record.

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Dairy prices rose again at the global dairy trade auction overnight – continuing a reversal of last year’s downward swing and raising questions about whether a $10 milk payout could be back on the table.

The average price rose 3.6 percent to US$4028 a tonne – it follows the 6.7 percent rise a fortnight ago, and is the fourth consecutive increase of the year.

Rabobank Dairy Analyst Emma Higgins said it was a “very good result” for New Zealand dairy farmers, with meaningful gains across key products.

The price of wholemilk powder, which strongly affects farmer payouts, rose 2.5 percent to US$3706 a tonne.

Prices for other products were mostly stronger, including a sharp increase in butter which rose over 10 percent.

“Overall, the event reinforced a couple of things. First is that there is improving demand sentiment across the dairy complex,” Higgins said.

“With current current dairy commodity prices where they are, the question begs whether we’ll start to see an increase in the farmgate milk price forecast for the 2025/26 season.”

Higgins was cautiously optimistic, adding there was still a lot of milk available on the global market at the moment.

“We’ve had some incredibly strong growth in the European Union, particularly driven from Ireland, France and Poland. And then if we think about the United States, we’ve seen consistently strong milk production for the majority of 2025.

“That was the reason that we saw weaker commodity prices at the back half of last year. It was the reason that we saw farmgate milk prices slashed by Christmas time.

“Now we’ve got the situation where demand is starting to improve, and at the same time, we’re starting to see perhaps some signals as we move through 2026 that supply environment will start to tighten up.”

She said current market dynamics would suggest there was support for lifting the current milk price forecast from where it sits at that midpoint range of $9, up to somewhere around the $9.50 per kilogram of milk solid mark.

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Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka today congratulated the finalists for this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy competition.

The three finalists for 2026, Mātai Pacific Iwi Collective and Otama Marere Trust which are both based in the Bay of Plenty, and Northland’s Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust, were announced at a function at Parliament today.

The trophy celebrates the vital role Māori farmers and growers play in New Zealand’s economy.

“This year’s finalists exemplify excellence in horticulture, driving growth in the food and fibre sector while creating jobs in rural communities,” Mr McClay says.

“The hard work of Māori growers and their staff will help achieve New Zealand’s aspirational goal of doubling the value of exports in 10 years, while meeting the global demand for high-quality, safe and sustainable food and fibre.”

The competition was expanded to include horticulture in 2020, recognising the growth of horticulture on whenua Māori, which has increased by 50 per cent since 2017.

“Māori orchards, such as apples and kiwifruit, and agribusinesses provide employment and vital reinvestment back into marae, papakāinga, kura, and education scholarships,” Mr Pokata says.

“The prosperity and wellbeing horticulture generates for Iwi and Māori across the motu has far reaching impacts. I tautoko the outstanding work these finalists are doing.”

Each Ahuwhenua Trophy finalist will host a field day to demonstrate their growing operations. These field days and a second round of judging will determine the overall winner. The winner will be announced on 5 June in Whangārei.

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Livestock farmers are being urged to keep their animals well fed and circulated to avoid the spread of moisture-loving parasites.

Downpours and gusts that lashed the country in recent weeks have left farmers grappling with paddocks turned to lakes, keeping stock fed and dry, and navigating cut-off tracks, roads and bridges.

Heavy rainfall and warm conditions created an optimal habitat for parasites like worms and their larvae to spread in pasture.

Wormwise manager Ginny Dodunski said the worm larvae animals ate when they were grazing lived in droplets of water.

“[The larvae] are pretty good at clinging onto the grass blades, so unless you’ve actually had land move down a hill or you heaps of water flowing through your property, they’re still going to be there.”

Dodunski said sheep and cattle were subject to different worm species, but all would thrive in pasture during wet and warm conditions.

“The conditions that we’ve got at the moment definitely favour larvae survival,” she said.

“So we’ve got to get around that with really good feeding and then thinking about how we can use our different stock classes on our farms to clean up behind each other.”

She said stock rotation and grazing management were key to preventing further spread.

“One of the worst things we could do now with our lambs and calves is have them just going round and round and round their same little area on the farm, because they will pick up lots of larvae and because they’re young, they will put out a lot more worms themselves, so they create these hotspots for themselves.”

Dodunksi said farmers could capitalise on good lamb prices and focus more on fattening up the ewes, to buffer any pasture production knocks that might come with pests and diseases this summer.

“Get rid of your lambs, get the weight back on the ewes, and get yourself set up for next year, because some of these other pests and diseases might knock some pasture production around later on. So having ewes in good condition now is going to be a bit of a buffer for some of that as well.”

She said fortunately most sheep were already shorn by now which helped prevent flystrike in summer months.

She also urged farmers to monitor for any sudden deaths and consider spore and faecal counts.

Furthermore, Beef and Lamb said farmers were reporting a proliferation of these pests and diseases, as well as facial eczema and porina.

Earth Sciences New Zealand maps showed wet soils were especially pronounced on the East Coast, Bay of Plenty and pockets of South Waikato, Manawatū and Kaikōura as of Monday.

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A “lifeline” road gouged out by raging floodwaters in southern Wairarapa is a “nightmare” scenario, that has split families and forced residents to scramble for supplies.

Several rural and coastal settlements on the road to Cape Palliser and Lake Ferry are completely isolated after a metres-wide gap opened at the Turanganui River bridge on Lake Ferry Road.

The road, which has been eaten away in large chunks, is due to be assessed by civil engineers on Wednesday morning, and RNZ understands the hope is to reopen it by the end of the day.

Torrential rain and gale force winds earlier this week left thousands without power and caused widespread flooding and damage across Wairarapa.

Lake Ferry local Sharon Durrant told RNZ she mostly slept through the stormy weather that hit overnight on Sunday and although the community was cut off by flooding the next day, the real impact was not felt until Tuesday, when the bridge road washed out.

Durrant said the river had diverted, cutting through the single lane bridge where it meets the road.

She said while locals were “well-aware” of the flood risk at the Turanganui River bridge, it was “by far the worst they’d ever seen”.

“I was a little bit shocked at the way in which the water had ripped the tar seal off the road.

“It’s always in the back of our mind, like, if that bridge goes that’s the lifeline to the southern Wairarapa coastline. It’s a lifeline, and it’s our biggest nightmare.”

Durrant’s son was likely one of the last people to cross the road before it gave way shortly after 5.15am on Tuesday.

“Not more than five minutes later another person tried to go through but obviously stopped and had a look,” Durrant said.

Half the road had fallen away, but a strip remained, she said. The call was made to reassess at daylight.

“Within three hours that whole part of the road had gone. It happens really, really quickly and in hindsight my son’s actually lucky he got across there.”

Her son was stuck on the wrong side for the night, but by Tuesday afternoon a human chain had formed to ferry supplies from one side to the other.

Durrant said before she knew it, she had become the liaison for the community ordering in eggs, milk, bread, nappies and beer, as well as medicine.

Stream kaitiaki and Mountains to Sea catchment coordinator Natasha Robinson spoke to RNZ after her fourth shift catching supplies on the edge of the river next to the bridge – which she believed was past its prime.

“I’ve been collecting supplies through this channel from people on the other side, just to get supplies to the old ones and to get medical supplies as well. It’s the only way.”

The chain did not stop there, with food crossing farmland to get to some families still cut off by severe flooding, Durrant said.

“I actually went down there [to the bridge] to get the milk and bread to put it in the letter box so another farmer could take it over to them.”

Durrant said they were “blessed to have such a good community” and the washout had highlighted some gaps in their disaster relief plan.

She wanted to see a wire established to ferry supplies in case the bridge road failed again, however she said it was not the only bridge of concern.

Locals told RNZ the bridge at Hurupi Stream – also known as the ‘banana bridge’ – on Cape Palliser Road had also been undermined, with photos showing significant erosion where it meets the road.

A South Wairarapa District Council spokesperson said there were two bridges in the area in need of repair, but with the first assessements set for Wednesday morning could not put a timeframe on a fix.

“We are asking people not to attempt to cross the rivers or use the bridges.”

They said Wairarapa Emergency Operations Centre was working “with partners to establish reconnection and supplies”, with police delivering supplies to Kohunui Marae in Pirinoa.

“Welfare staff from the centre have also attended to assess needs and help as required.”

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Storms across the North Island have destroyed a Horowhenua grower’s large berry tunnels, but power to the milking shed has since returned.

Severe weather over the weekend thrust five North Island districts into states of emergency; Manawatū, Rangitīkei, Tararua, Waipā and Ōtorohanga.

At Lewis Farms near Levin, strong gusts smashed 100m long berry tunnels, ripping off roofs and twisting steel.

Milk collection was scheduled for late Tuesday once downed trees were cleared from the farm’s tanker tracks and roads.

Owner and managing director of the family business, Cam Lewis, said the team was safe which was the main thing, but there was significant damage to the farm.

“The farms are a bit of a mess at the moment,” he said.

“Worst for us is the strawberries. So our tunnel houses and the crop itself have been particularly hard hit by the wind.”

Lewis said while many of the tunnels were still standing, he estimated about two of the seven hectares the tunnels covered had sustained damage.

“We feel we’re pretty geared up for handling wind, but unfortunately this time around, it came in a completely different direction to what the farm’s built to handle and to what we would normally expect.

“So lots and lots of tunnel houses with roofs gone and twisted steel and heaps of our plants lying on the ground, which isn’t ideal.”

As well as growing berries and asparagus, the farm had just under 900 dairy cows across two sites.

Power to the milking sheds was still out by Monday afternoon, when Lewis said he expected the outage to end soon.

“I think there’s a bit over 400 girls sitting out there at the moment wondering why they haven’t been milked this morning.”

Power returned to the shed by Monday evening, so the cows were “very relieved”, he said.

It was the second power outage at the farm since Christmas.

Lewis said it was time to think about adding a generator to the fleet.

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A washout at a single lane bridge has completely cut off several settlements in southern Wairarapa, including Lake Ferry and Cape Palliser.

Torrential rain, which began on Sunday night, caused widespread flooding in rural and coastal areas, but the already isolated communities are now completely cut off, after the Lake Ferry Road bridge over the Turangaui River fell away overnight.

The bridge is the only access by road to communities in Lake Ferry, and along the Cape Palliser coast, such as Whāngaimoana and Ngawi.

South Wairarapa District Council said the the bridge was located between Warrens Road and the junction with Cape Palliser Road.

“The bridge is only one lane and is the main access route to Lake Ferry and Cape Palliser. This means those communities cannot currently be reached by road.

“Road crews and contractors are on site working urgently to repair the damage and reopen the road. The road is expected to reopen later this afternoon.”

Pirinoa Station farmer Guy Didsbury told Morning Report the bridge had been “gouged out” and following a wellfare check on a neighbour, Whāngaimoana Beach local Terry Shubkin went to see the damage for herself.

She said a four-wheel drive was necessary before even reaching the bridge.

“But even if you could pass that, you get to the bridge and the bridge itself is washed out.

“There’s about a three-metre gap.”

Despite the washout, Shubkin wasn’t too concerned about being trapped.

“We are lucky compared to other people, we are well set-up here.

“We have lost our water pump, but we do have a 10,000L tank here I just have to figure out how to get the freshwater out of it.”

Shubkin said other residents had floodwaters right through their properties – “they’re not so lucky”.

The storm itself was “pretty rough and scary” when it hit on Sunday night, she said with rising floodwaters stopping just two inches shy of the house.

“We do flood, but this is the worst I’ve seen in 23 years.”

Shubkin said power had since returned and she was impressed with Civil Defence on Monday who were undertaking door-knocks when the weather was still severe.

“When the storm was … still quite bad they actually came down the street a couple of times to check on people.”

Wairarapa Emergency Operations Centre Controller, Simon Taylor said the main priority on Tuesday was to establish communication with rural and coastal communities and understand their needs.

A reconnaissance helicopter flight on Monday was turned around due to bad weather.

It flew from Masterton to Lake Ferry and Cape Palliser, but the severe weather prevented its flight over Tora, Flat Point, Riversdale, Castlepoint and Mataikona.

He said food had been delivered to some rural communities in South Wairarapa by emergency services in four-wheel drives.

He understood people were “tired and frustrated,” particularly where power and water supplies had been disrupted and asked people to stay safe and check on their neighbours.

“One of the key things in the Wairarapa, we are a community that looks after ourselves and our neighbours.”

On Tuesday morning, Powerco said 1148 homes were still without power across Wairarapa, down from 3300 on Monday evening.

A boil water notice remained in place for Pirinoa following the inundation of the water treatment plant.

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A Banks Peninsula farm worker had to swim stranded sheep to safety after huge downpours at Teddington.

More than 280mm of rain has fallen on parts of the Banks Peninsula from Sunday night to Tuesday morning. MetService meteorologist Silvia Martino said persistent rain was expected for much of the rest of Tuesday. An orange heavy rain warning was in until 6pm

Farmer Sir David Carter said more than 250mm of rain fell overnight at his property.

“The rain gauge was overflowing this morning. I’ve never seen so much rain and I’ve been farming here for 40 years.”

Carter said paddocks were flooded and trees were are down, which left him stranded on the farm.

“We moved stock to higher ground last night because we knew this was coming, but a farm assistant had to swim nine sheep to safety at 6.30am.

“I’d say there will be slips on the hills but we won’t know the extent of the damage until the rain stops.”

He said he didn’t think they had had stock losses.

Opawa flooding

In Christchurch, Stuart Payne, an Opawa resident of 35 years, told RNZ it was the second-worst flooding he’d seen in the area.

He said the response from council for the city’s metropolitan areas was delayed, despite flooding in various parts of the city, while most of the focus was currently on the Banks Peninsula.

He also questioned why the region hadn’t been placed in a state of emergency. No declaration had been made by 10am on Tuesday.

“Maybe they’ve been caught out.”

Payne sent RNZ photos from his drive on Fifield Terrace, where surface flooding has covered the road.

“It’s like a massive lake.”

His property was raised and wasn’t at risk of flooding, he said.

At 8.40am, Christchurch City Council published a list of city road closures on its website.

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Residents of an affluent east Auckland suburb fear their quiet lifestyle could be shattered by a three-storey development in the middle of their neighbourhood.

With dozens of buildings looming high above her garden, Farm Cove resident Anne Moore said there was nowhere to hide.

“My sister’s room is curtains drawn because there are people building on the building site, and there’s no privacy,” she said.

Moore was leading the charge urging council to take action over the partly-completed construction.

With the support of her neighbours, she had sought legal advice, maintaining the development should no longer be allowed under Auckland’s recently changed planning rules.

The hammers and grinders echoing through her home office were hard at work on a pair of three-storey residential units, and they were right next door.

Moore worried the lack of privacy could be permanent once her new neighbours moved in.

“I think the fact that it looks right into our home and right into our property. We’ve got a spa pool, there’s two or three swimming pools in the surrounding area that they now look down on all of us,” she said.

Another neighbour, Lisa Anne Roy, said the new building towered over her property and blocked the sun.

“The impact’s been absolutely huge,” Roy said.

“We have an immune-compromised child, and taking all the sunlight away from the bedroom side of the house, I mean going up 11 metres, it’s just horrific.”

Roy only heard about the development through word of mouth after construction had already started.

“I have three dogs. To have that third dog on my property, I had to get every single neighbour to sign before council would let me have three dogs on my property,” she recalled.

“They didn’t have to get any signatures to totally change the landscape.”

The development in Farm Cove was allowed by the central government’s Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), introduced in 2022 and permitting three-storey buildings on most city properties.

Contractors at the site on Bramley Drive had just broken ground in October last year when Auckland Council pulled out of those standards, the result of an agreement with the government following the 2023 floods.

That change limited new builds in Farm Cove to two floors, but the development had already been consented for three.

Anne Moore said construction should stop, and was campaigning for the council to step in.

“I keep getting emails saying that, you know, he had a building consent, he got it under the MDRS, and so they’re not going to enforce it because he was given that at the time. Well, that’s all very well, but those rules don’t apply anymore.”

Auckland Council’s head of resource consents, James Hassall, said the development could go ahead despite the recent changes.

“The government is investigating changes to help remedy the situation. This has allowed Auckland Council to issue formal notices to affected consent holders confirming they can rely on their existing consents and continue with their developments while a permanent fix is investigated,” he said in a written statement.

The developers declined RNZ’s interview request, but reiterated that the council had given them permission to continue.

And continue it had. Within a few months, contractors had already erected the frame of the third floor, and the shape of the building was coming into view.

Moore said the noise was driving her crazy, work often dragging into the evenings and weekends.

“They are allowed to work until six in a residential area, but they often keep going and we all have to yell out, hey, time to go, because by then we’ve had enough. So we really want our privacy back for what little time we have it,” she said.

“They’re here Monday to Saturday, and then last Sunday some showed up to work last Sunday, which they’re not allowed to do.”

In an election year, she said National risked losing its previously loyal support in east Auckland.

“I think it’s going to make a difference at the polls this year, to be honest,” she said.

“And this area is a big stronghold for a certain party, and so people are outraged.”

Anne Moore said her community felt burned, and feared others may be put in a similar position.

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When the huge storm closed State Highway 1 between Taihape and Hunterville on Monday, leaving hundreds of drivers stranded, the community at Winiata Marae knew just what to do.

They quickly put word out that warm food and a place to rest could be found at the marae on the outskirts of Taihape.

Lulu Simi is a force of nature herself and it was she who was directing the marae’s response to the storm – busy organising gas canister refills and making sure visitors were fed.

“We just knew it would be part and parcel of what we need to do for our community.

“Not only for our local community but for the many hundreds and thousands of people that travel through Taihape to get to their destinations.

“This morning when we woke up it was all back-to-back trucks and cars and families, so we had already put our number out last night.”

The Ngāti Hinemanu and Ngāti Paki hapū marae played a similar role during Cyclone Gabrielle.

At day’s end on Monday night more than 200 people had been through.

“Everyone here just knows that it’s part of our role underneath our marae to look after people and it always makes us feel good to be able to put it on at the drop of a hat.

“And to be able to provide all this kai, all these sleeping places to people who were going to sleep in their cars … you always walk away feeling proud.”

Helen Ropiha-waiwai was heading back to Feilding from the rugby league international in Rotorua with her husband.

She was in awe of the hospitality.

“For me not being from here it was beautiful just to see such a small community just come together and make such a big kai.

“They had enough kai for three bus-loads that they knew were stuck and all the truck drivers and stuff.”

Helen Ropiha-waiwai even bumped into Moana Steedman – aka Nan – who she knew from the sidelines of schoolboy rugby.

A Taihape local, Nan, reckoned helping others fed the soul.

“It was amazing, you know, not only do we help them but they help us and, you know, to be able to give back to people that’s the amazing part of it. That’s what it’s all about.

Aucklander Leilani Kwan-Him was travelling to Wellington with Max Briggs.

They got a tip off about Winiata Marae while killing time at the Taihape library.

“And then they gave us dinner and they were going to give us a place to stay. It was just so nice and we had a really nice meal .”

The food hit the spot too.

“We had chop suey, we had chicken curry – that’s one of the chefs over there – and we had some rice and there was tea and it feels like there was some nibbles. There was everything.”

Shadrack Simi put together the menu.

“For lunchtime today we had like a sausages and gravy, veggies and mashed potatoes. That was all stuff that we just had here on site.

“And then from donated stores and stuff we had here we put on a chicken curry and rice, a beef chop suey and a yellow split-bean curry, a vegan curry.”

Being nimble was the key to putting on such a spread at short notice.

“I guess it’s just resourcefulness looking at the ingredients you’ve got and then also looking at the day obviously I wanted something hot and nutritious.

“So, the meals had a lot of ginger, garlic, onion, but also things that I know the Kiwi palate will eat like a chicken curry and sausages and gravy.”

Meanwhile, Lulu Simi said the marae stood ready to help again next time wild weather strikes.

State Highway 1 reopened to two-lane traffic at about 6pm.

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