A webcam showing off Hawke's Bay's sunny climate to the rest of the country has been knocked out of action - by bad weather.
The camera, put up by Napier City Council in April at a cost of $15,000, beamed live views of the region to TVNZ's Breakfast programme and the
council's website.
But since July 12, the site has only shown a message saying the camera was unavailable due to "extreme weather".
Council corporate IT manager Andrew Siddles confirmed the camera was damaged when water leaked into its "waterproof" housing during stormy weather earlier this month.
"Even though the thing is marine-rated, we've ended up with some of our bad weather getting in there," he said.
The camera and housing has been sent back to manufacturer Sony for repairs and to establish how the water got in.
Mr Siddles said it was unlikely to be returned until late August, and wouldn't be put back up unless the cause of the problem was found. Who would pay for repairs would depend on the cause of the problem, he said.
Napier Mayor Barbara Arnott said regardless of who paid, the camera would be replaced.
"We're still intent on putting it back as soon as possible, whether it's a new camera, or that one fixed," she said.
The water damage was a small glitch in what had otherwise been a "wonderful initiative" for marketing Napier, Mrs Arnott said.
Images from the webcam had been regularly screened on the Breakfast programme, and occasionally featured in the evening news roundup. And they were likely to feature more often during summer, when night-time views were better.
The camera, mounted on a light pole next to the i-SITE building on Marine Parade, could be panned or zoomed to show images of Napier, Hawke Bay, Te Mata Peak and Cape Kidnappers.
The webcam link on the council's website had received about 50 hits a day.
