Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Fantasy Cave in Dannevirke flooded after heavy rain falls

By Dave Murdoch
Hawkes Bay Today·
13 Jun, 2019 06:57 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Graham Cheer carries buckets of water up from the basement to be emptied. Photo / Sue Emeny

Graham Cheer carries buckets of water up from the basement to be emptied. Photo / Sue Emeny

With water dripping through light sockets, damp patches on the walls, carpets oozing water and electric engines in the model railway soaked, it was a case of deja vu for Dannevirke's Fantasy Cave yesterday after heavy rain fell in the town.

For volunteers it was the second time in six months the town's tourist attraction had been flooded by torrential rain.

From 8pm Wednesday to noon yesterday 105mm of rain fell, flooding streets, causing rivers to become swirling torrents and flooding buildings in Dannevirke.

The Fantasy Cave building, which also houses NZCU Baywide and the Stronghold Grappling Academy on the top floor, was one of the worst affected.

A similar experience hit the Fantasy Cave between Christmas and New Year causing major damage to the exhibits and closing the tourist attraction for several weeks.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The landlord when approached said it was a "one in 100 years event" and no work was carried out on the building.

Six months on that "one in a 100 years event" has recurred and the Fantasy Cave has again experienced damage on all floors although it was not thought to be as bad as the earlier flooding.

Dannevirke Fire Brigade attended and by 11am had cleared the upper guttering of leaves, reducing the flow of water which had punched holes in the upper floor ceiling.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu class arriving at 6.30am yesterday discovered the flood and soon had the initial mess cleaned up but the rain continued.

It was all hands on deck for Fantasy Cave volunteers armed with mops, buckets and towels. Now comes the drying of carpets and repairing the exhibits.

Cave volunteers said they were insured but that process would take time.

NZCU Baywide was not affected.

Discover more

Tararua community groups granted funding

12 Jun 06:35 PM

Dannevirke to get rail hub funding

10 Jun 08:00 PM

$40 million provincial growth funding for CHB

10 Jun 06:00 PM

Mixed reactions to Dannevirke rail hub

12 Jun 06:32 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Motorbike rider seriously injured in Central Hawke's Bay crash

Hawkes Bay Today

'Far out': Napier ice swimmer's intense sensation after pushing himself to new limit

Hawkes Bay Today

One month of new $824m highway: No crashes, no potholes, no complaints


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Motorbike rider seriously injured in Central Hawke's Bay crash
Hawkes Bay Today

Motorbike rider seriously injured in Central Hawke's Bay crash

The rider was taken to hospital after a motorbike v car collision at Waipukurau.

15 Jul 11:58 PM
'Far out': Napier ice swimmer's intense sensation after pushing himself to new limit
Hawkes Bay Today

'Far out': Napier ice swimmer's intense sensation after pushing himself to new limit

15 Jul 10:24 PM
One month of new $824m highway: No crashes, no potholes, no complaints
Hawkes Bay Today

One month of new $824m highway: No crashes, no potholes, no complaints

15 Jul 08:54 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP