Man videos slip that covered Waioeka Gorge road to Gisborne

Monday, 25 June 2018

This slip closed the Waioeka Gorge between the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne.

A landslide that closed a main highway in the Bay of Plenty has been caught on camera.

In the video, a mass of dirt and rock plummets onto the highway, blocking it.

Michael Tabudravu was driving from Gisborne to Rotorua on Sunday afternoon at 3pm when he came around a bend and saw rock and dirt scattered across the road.

A mass of dirt and rock covers the highway after a slip that covered Waioeka Gorge road to Gisborne.

A small rock almost hit his car.

A man driving along the gorge has captured the slip on film.

He got out to have a closer look.

About three other cars coming from the other direction had stopped to see what was going on, too. Some tried to manoeuvre around the debris and keep driving.

The cliff face where the rock had come from was clearly unstable, Tabudravu said on Monday.

'I could see it started cracking underneath - this big crack.

'Then the whole thing just came down.'

By then most other drivers had left, heading back the same way they came.

But Tabudravu whipped out his phone in time to record the face collapse into a wave of rubble.

'It's not something you see everyday.

'It was a bit of an adrenalin rush to be honest.'

The main highway in the Bay of Plenty, State Highway 2, was closed on Sunday afternoon after the slip.

The NZ Transport Agency said on Monday that the road will remain closed until further notice.

Contractors are on site clearing the slip, and geotechnical engineers are currently assessing the stability of the cliff face.

'Until those assessments have been competed it is too early to predict when the road will be able to be safely re-opened to traffic,' the NZTA said.

Motorists can use State Highway 35 as an alternative route, and can check the NZTA website for updates.

#SH2 WAIOEKA GORGE, MAJOR SLIP - MON 25 JUN, 6.30AM UPDATE

SH2 remains CLOSED thru Waioeka Gorge (btwn Opotiki & Gisborne) this morn, & possibly all day, due to a significant slip. Full assessment will occur in daylight & an update provided asap: https://t.co/acXxGxAbPv ^TP pic.twitter.com/e2LohtkwCY

— NZTA Waikato/BoP (@NZTAWaiBoP) June 24, 2018