Power returned to main centres such as Kaikohe, Kerikeri, Paihia and Kaitaia about 12.45pm, then gradually to the rest of the district. Power was due to be restored everywhere by 4pm.
Kaitaia Hospital switched to generators but many businesses in the town and in Kerikeri closed their doors. Spark's cellphone network kept functioning but Vodafone, which is used by police among others, went down.
The cost of lost business is yet to be determined but the timing could not have been worse in Paihia and Russell, with the Bay of Islands welcoming the first cruise ship of the season, the 2750-passenger Diamond Princess.
Most shops there, however, stayed open and improvised. One exchanged its electronic till for a cardboard box of cash. The rushed arrival of generators at Cellini's, an icecream bar, was greeted with loud cheers.
At Alongside, a waterfront cafe, staff tweaked the menu, brought out a gas barbecue and dusted off old zip-zap credit card machines. The Village Green craft market, which needs no power, was humming with shoppers. Some cruise ship passengers went back to the ship early but others were unfazed.
Marion Neville from New South Wales visited a cafe after climbing the hill to the School Rd lookout and was unable to get a coffee.
"But the cakes are good, so it doesn't matter," she said.
Husband David Neville said the locals had been very helpful, not just in Paihia during the power cut but everywhere around New Zealand.
Paihia Business Association chairman Craig Johnston of Paihia Dive said it was hard to quantify the cost to Far North businesses from the power cut.
"But it would have definitely had an impact. If restaurants are closed or cafes can't serve coffee, it makes the decision to turn around and go back to the ship, where everything is included, that much easier."
Mr Johnston said it was unfortunate the outage coincided with a cruise ship visit.
Top Energy spokesman Peter Heath said the problem involved the supply of power from the national grid into the Kaikohe substation, which supplied the entire Far North. The company was working with Transpower to identify the cause.
Top Energy struggled to communicate with customers during the outage because its phones and some cellphone networks failed. Newspaper websites and social media were used to provide what little information was available.
Helicopters were seen searching powerlines for faults. It was not clear whether the fault occurred in Top Energy's network or on the national grid.
