After the recent cyclones in the Hawke’s Bay region, Waikato farmers Nathan and Adrianne Boyd became aware that farmers in the Tutira area were suffering badly because of extensive damage to their farms and the loss of all road access into the area. Wanting to do something that would be of practical help to the farming community, Nathan hatched a plan. The Tutira farmers faced many problems, but one of the big ones was the loss of many kilometres of fencing which was making it difficult to manage the farms livestock, resulting in stock loss and cash flow problems for many farmers. Nathan’s plan involved the purchase of 200 rolls of fencing wire at a heavily discounted rate. He would hunt for sponsorship for each roll of wire that was then to be delivered to the farmers in the Tutira area. Because the roads into the area were badly damaged by the cyclone and many bridges were unusable, commercial delivery was not possible, so Nathan’s mates at the Cozzie 4x4 Club volunteered to deliver the wire to the farms that needed them most. 

While preparing for the trip down, Nathan was also offered 80 six-metre plastic culverts of varying sizes that were donated by Rural Direct. These also needed to be delivered to a range of farms in the Tutira area. Suddenly Cozzie 4x4 Club had a much bigger task. Over the weekend of 14 and 15 May, eight heavily-laden 4WD vehicles with trailers full of culvert pipes, fencing wire and ‘pig’s tail’ uprights set off from the Waikato on a mission to deliver the supplies to those in need.

Highway 2 was an experience in itself and still gated to through traffic and we were granted special permission to use what was left of the road. We soon discovered why. Even after three months of work had taken place it had more single lanes than doubles, and there were undermined road edges, slips, washouts, slash piles, silt and so on.

Accommodation was at the quirky Tutira Lodge, thanks to owner Nick.

We were then escorted to farms in the area where we dropped off supplies; we delivered sponsored fencing wire, electric fence standards and eight trailer loads of culvert pipes.

Each farmer gave an account of the weather event as it unfolded and to this day it remains exceptionally raw to each one of them.

They took us to the hills, the high points on their farms where we could witness the enormity of the situation. Slips are everywhere on the hill sides. Flood damage, silt, slash, and washouts fill the valleys.

Fences are down in a tangled mess under slips, taken out by trees, just carnage everywhere.

Locals talked of power outages for days and days, vital communications out, roads washed out, bridges gone, slips blocking roads so no access after they had 30 percent of their annual rainfall in 24 hours.

Dairy farmers’ milk could not be collected as there was no access for milk tankers, so milk had to be dumped.

Stock trucks couldn’t get in till three months after the event.

The entire area had been isolated for two weeks without communication with the outside world.

Neighbours had to walk or ride a horse cross country just to check on neighbours as there were no phones, no power, no fuel and no incoming supplies, just you and your family on a farm in the middle of what could be described as a war zone.

There is a lot of financial pressures and stress, and motivation was at times hard to come by as farmers struggled to work out where to start rebuilding. Some residents had to be sent out of the area for a break as they simply couldn’t cope.

On Saturday evening the locals put on an amazing evening with food, beers, standing around the forty-four-gallon drum with a blazing inferno of a fire, telling yarns, experiences of the past few months, and just a good old local social gathering with lots of laughs to shut off from the day-to-day grind.

Let’s face it, this has made these people stronger and more resilient than we could ever imagine. I take my hat off to each and every one of them.

On Sunday we were taken over farms to see the damage up close and personal. Certainly, an eye opener. From a distance you see a slip, but what you don’t see is what that slip took out in its path and where it finally ended up, and how all that slip sits now. Just big piles of a jumbled mess that they have had to push a path through with a digger or bulldozer to just get access around their farms.

Kilometres of fences taken out including boundary and road fences so lot or pasture and stock sharing going on.

Although three months on from the Cyclone you would think it had just happened. The road was still like a goat track, but limited access has been restored.

The community of Tutira were very grateful for the supplies and couldn’t thank us enough.

Full credit to Nathan and Adrianne who put this all together.

The Tutira community is very resilient and is slowly but surely recovering, however the assistance of individuals and companies from outside the area is vital and very very much appreciated by the entire community. Despite the challenges they face in the coming weeks, months and years, we found them to be amazing hosts and wish them all the best for the future.

By Ashley Lucas