He reckons he transported around 45 workers in total in the weeks after the cyclone and probably did around 100 trips with the help of a second volunteer driver, Horiata Raihania.
When the cyclone reached the East Coast on February 13 Colin said he’d never experienced rain like it.
“I knew we were in trouble and when I tried to get out the next day and came to the slip on the road — it was just mind-blowing.”
But they were prepared and had moved stock to higher ground ahead of the weather event.
“This time we were prepared stock-wise anyway because we’d been warned it would be the storm of the century,” he says.
His farm is six kilometres north of Tokomaru Bay and situated after the large slip which has cut off the coastal community.
When Gabrielle hit, they were still cleaning up after Cyclone Hale, with a bulldozer due to complete work clearing the track.
That first clean-up cost around $70,000 and it was back to square one afterwards. But it was the third deluge a couple of weeks later that caused the most damage because everything was already so sodden and the soil unstable as a result.
“We have lost a third of our farm on the flats which we use as a fattening block.”
Tokomaru Bay lost power for around a week but Colin and his wife Justine went for 16 days without electricity. They also had no phone connection or internet.
When the storm happened they formed a Civil Defence group and allocated jobs to different people. Colin was in charge of farm roads and tracks.
“One positive thing to come out of this is that we got to meet people we’d never met before. It brought us together as a community,” he said.
The New Zealand Defence Force brought in diesel and other supplies on the HMNZS Manawanui and staff from the Ministry for Primary Industries in Whakatane delivered a consignment of pet food which Colin then transported to the United Club rooms they were using as a base. One day around 30 loads of food were choppered in.
But the community wanted to support the local Four Square and continued to buy food rather than just accept free supplies.
“We really wanted to keep the local Four Square from going under and we succeeded.”
The road is around a week away from being cleared and opened, which will make all the difference to the township and surrounding farms.
But the clean-up and recovery is daunting.
“The farm is still a mess. When we got another tiny storm with about 80mls of rain, that really finished us off.”
They still had a bulldozer on the farm clearing a slip after Hale when Gabrielle hit so that work had to start again.
“It’s demoralising because it means the farm won’t be profitable. Any potential profit is being spent on the clean-up — clearing slips and re-doing fences.
“We can’t shear and we can’t sell stock because trucks can’t get in. It’s really tough.”
They need to get started on replacing the fencing but haven’t been able to access part of the farm yet.
Marotiri Farm is 4400 hectares with 2200ha of productive land, made up of steep hill country and flats. Colin has been managing it for around 12 years.
A weekend break in Gisborne to watch the YMP team play in the Ngatapa rugby 15s tournament fundraiser was just what he needed.
“It was so good to see everyone and have a change of scene.”
Colin was born and raised on the coast and played for YMP for many years as well as
coaching for a couple of seasons. He is now club captain, his wife Justine is co-manager and son Shayde Skudder is the team captain.
The drive to Gisborne took three hours on the back roads using an RT to check in every few kilometres.
But it was worth the trip — YMP won the tournament and donated their winnings to the Waikohu Sports Club in Te Karaka. Second place went to OBM who also donated their prize money to the Te Karaka rugby club.
Tokomaru Bay and the East Coast of Gisborne have experienced seven storms in the last four years and it takes a toll on morale.
“We’re all pretty worn out and don’t feel like going to work some days. But tomorrow is a new day and we will just keep going.”
