Emma Tuck says she still feels at peace when she goes to her Puketapu property. Photo: RNZ/Jimmy Ellingham
As raging floodwaters rose around them, Emma Tuck and her family forced their way on to the roof of their Dartmoor Road house at Puketapu, near Napier.
Tuck, her partner, aunty and four children clung on for their lives as the house shook in the violent current on 14 February last year.
Cyclone Gabrielle unleashed its fury, causing rivers to breach their banks and flood the Dartmoor valley and parts of Puketapu .
At one point, as the waters lapped at the house's guttering, they sang You Are My Sunshine, in memory of Tuck's daughter Bayleigh Takie, who died as a baby 13 years ago.
The water levels dropped, but the family had to cling on for five hours before they were rescued by helicopter.
For the past year, since the cyclone, the family have stayed in a Napier rental.
Tuck's mother, Kerry Hamlin, lived in a flat on the property that was completely washed away. She's now staying with friends in Hastings - she was in town too when Gabrielle struck.
But Tuck still runs her business from the back of her Puketapu property.
"It's pretty broken down, but I still feel at peace coming here," she said.
"To turn up here for work, or even just in the weekends, I feel at home. If I'm having a bad day or something, I pop over and I'm at peace, and I really love it here."
The property is rated category 3 - so the family home can't be rebuilt there.
Tuck said they're not sure exactly what to do with the property, where the old house still sits, awaiting demolition.
"The house still stands, very broken. The weeds around the house are slightly out of control. We sprayed it probably two months ago to try to get it to a more manageable state.
"Our front lawn we levelled out maybe about six months ago. If the kids want to come back and play they can kick a ball, and maybe it can be a bit more appealing to the outside world."
The family have a plan to return to Puketapu - somewhere - relocating from the rental they are in now.
It will be a big job, but one Tuck was almost ready for.
Today, one year on from Gabrielle, the family was getting together to reflect on what happened.
"It's probably in the last week or so that it actually came back to me. I think my brain switched a lot of it off, like it was a bad dream.
"I get flashbacks and I just think, 'Did it happen?'"
'We want to get back into the house'
In Pakowhai, between Napier and Hastings, Chesterhope Kennels owner Diane O'Neill and her husband Kerry are waiting for the rebuild on their flood-damaged home to finish.
Pakowhai was flooded when the Tutaekuri and Ngaruroro rivers burst their banks.
O'Neill hopes they can move in by Easter so they can get out of the sleepout they've squeezed into.
"Being with your husband in a really small space, it gets frustrating. We've got no space. We want to get back into the house," she sad.
December's move to the sleepout at least meant they were back on their property, after having to live elsewhere.
"It's good being home. I must say though, we had a really bad shower a couple of weeks ago, with thunder and lightning, and I got a little bit anxious."
Di O'Neill says she can't wait for her and husband Kerry to move back into their home. Photo: RNZ/Jimmy Ellingham
A year ago O'Neill and her-son-in-law Trent Bray carried 60 dogs and several cats to safety through floodwaters rising to chest high
They broke into Pakowhai school, which is next door but on higher ground. It acted as a sanctuary for the animals, who all survived.
O'Neill and Bray were rescued by boat.
"I still think about that night afterwards and how I lay there and replayed everything through my mind.
"I actually thought I was crazy with some of the stuff I did. It was just ridiculous," O'Neill said.
"It was just pure adrenaline, and I definitely went into shock that night afterwards."
The past year has been a humbling experience, and O'Neill said she had to put aside pride to take in donations and community support.
"It's been a shit year. I don't think I'd want to re-live this year.
"It's just tested me mentally. You just have to stay strong. If you don't stay strong it just implodes around you.
"You've got to keep going because there's nobody else here to do it for you."
'We're doing okay'
Gary Spence was born almost 78 years ago at the Pakowhai house he can't return to.
He and wife Liz have bought a section in Taradale with insurance money, but Gary Spence still spends many days working at the Pakowhai property, and plans to lease it for cropping.
"It's nice to leave Pakowhai, and the mud and shambles, and come home to something that's normal - and to that end it's lovely," he said.
"I'm struggling a little bit with such close neighbours after living in the country for 70-odd years, but they're lovely neighbours so I'll get used to it."
Garry Spence sit in front of one of his wife Liz's artworks, which was saved from their Pakowhai property. Photo: RNZ/Jimmy Ellingham
The Pakowhai house is awaiting demolition - they're just waiting to hear confirmation from the council about its contribution.
Spence and his wife, who evacuated before Gabrielle struck, have managed to salvage some belongings from inside, including many of Liz Spence's colourful artworks.
They now adorn their Taradale walls.
"We thought they'd be a bit of a write off, covered in mud, but our daughters managed to wash them and they even put bricks on them to straighten them out, because they'd warped.
"They've come up lovely and me and my wife are thrilled to have saved some of those."
They're a colourful reminder of a special home.
"We're doing okay," Spence said.
"I'm probably struggling more than Liz. Liz is loving living in town, and it's only five minutes from the shopping centre, and we're only 10 minutes from Pakowhai anyway.
"I'm loving it too. It's good."
Some things don't change: The Spences had pristine gardens at their Pakowhai property.
Now, their neighbours in Taradale can take in the splashes of colour already evident in the plot next to their driveway.
