A huge wave crashes over the front fence of a property at Haumoana, south of Napier. Photo / Lindsay Gibb
Monster waves hammered coastal settlements in Hawkes Bay yesterday, sweeping away a piece of road and heavy concrete blocks.
The swells reached 4m, buffeting the shores of Haumoana, Te Awanga and Clifton in what was a late punch from a tropical weather system that WeatherWatch analyst Phillip Duncan said
"sideswiped" the East Coast.
A large length of roadway built three years ago and connecting Clifton Beach Reserve Motor Camp to the rest of the settlement was washed away, as were a row of 1m concrete cubes that formed part of a rock wall.
Camp owner Marie Bennett described the swells as "tremendous" and the largest she had seen.
The waves also left some Clifton Rd sections strewn with gravel and driftwood, but homeowners were making light of the situation.
Haumoana homeowner and renowned artist Dick Frizzell was amused to find that a beach campfire place he built in front of his house was now well stocked with firewood.
"The waves just came from nowhere - God knows where they came from."
Another Clifton Rd resident, Martin Hussey, joked that large waves were becoming so common that residents should start setting bait nets on their driveways.
Local resident and Hastings councillor Rod Heaps said the easterly angle of the waves as they swept in made them higher than usual.
Coastal erosion caused by large waves in the area has been a controversial issue for years.
Last month, a residents' group proposed a $10 million groyne field be built at Haumoana.
WeatherWatch has forecast that another large storm in the Southern Ocean will bring large swells to the entire west coast of the country over the next 10 days.
Some swells are predicted to reach 6m today and more than 8m at the weekend. WeatherWatch advised people to take extreme caution when near the sea, especially at the entrance to Manukau Harbour in Auckland.
Mr Duncan said strong winds that lashed Auckland and the central parts of the country were also likely to linger for the next 10 days.
