Rena's debris washed up along Mauao's rocky shoreline, and the beach was a mess.
But soon the community came together, and people quickly rallied to clean up their beach.
Thousands of volunteers registered to assist beach clean-up operations.
Filmmakers Romain Lesiuk & Yann Hilaire traveled from France to Tauranga to film and document the story of the 8000 volunteers who helped clean up after the Rena oil spill. Rena - Black Tide: a tribute to all the volunteers.
Monster swells pounded the Western Bay coastline - causing containers to fall from Rena and prompting officials to warn people to stay off the water.
Readers were asked in an online poll what worried them the most. We also asked readers to send us their photos, which is something you can still do.
Today, we look back… and forward.
Please let us know how the Rena grounding and its aftermath has affected you. Leave your comments below or send a letter to the editor (200 words max, and please inlcude your name).
The video footage below shows what some other locals think.
Earlier raw video of oil spill and the stricken ship as seen from the air can be found here.