Family flees slip in Awakino Gorge in ‘scariest thing’ as they watch ‘bank coming down’

Saturday, 25 July 2026

New Plymouth woman Nikita Phillips says watching a bank collapse onto the road beside the truck she, her partner, and their 7-year-old daughter were in, was “one of the scariest things I’ve felt”.

The trio were driving from New Plymouth to Auckland through the Awakino Gorge on State Highway 3 around 5am on Saturday when the slip occurred.

“There was a truck stopped in front of us so we were waiting there, and then my partner saw the bank coming down,” Phillips said.

“The driver of the truck in front of us bolted and a road worker can running down yelling at us to get out.”

That was easier said than done as her partner reversed his truck in pitch black conditions before finding enough space to turn around.

“It was one of the scariest things I’ve felt,” Phillips said.

“My mind went to those poor people in the slips at the Mount (six people were killed in the landslides there in January). My chest was pounding and we didn’t know what to do.”

Making it worse was her daughter seeing how terrified her parents were, she said. “It was not nice for our little girl to experience that. But we are home now.“

Heavy rainfall overnight was believed to have caused several slips on the Forgotten World Highway.

There had been the Taumarunui earthquake as well, adding to concerns though it was not clear if it had played any part in the slips.

Road closures

There were a number of road closures with NZ Transport Agency deploying crews to assess the roads.

SH3 was closed between Mokau and Piopio.

SH43 was now closed between Whangamōmona and Taumarunui, but it remained open between Stratford and Whangamōmona; as did SH4.

The Awakino Gorge has suffered repeated slips during the past few months.