Kristy Shute and Darren Minnoch hope to reopen the town's pub in about three months. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
The silt is gone and the road into the seaside village of Herbertville is under repair after Cyclone Gabrielle struck last year, but the pub - a key part of the community - remains closed.
The village - located on the remote lower North Island east coast - did not escape the force of the February 2023 cyclone.
Logs damming the Wainui River caused flooding that swept through the campground, several houses and the pub - the Herbertville Inn.
Its doors have mostly remained shut since, and new owners Darren Minnoch and Kristy Shute feel the responsibility to reopen.
"This will be, probably for a lot of the locals, the final thing for things to be up and running," Shute said.
"Life can go back to normal - what it was like before, because this is the hub of the community."
The swollen river left mud throughout the pub - in the bar, the outdoor area, the kitchen and the accommodation.
Minnoch and Shute are ready to buy the building materials needed for repair work, as they look towards a late-winter opening.
"Realistically, I'd like it to be open in three months, to do the floor and just give it a lick of paint and make it more welcoming in its appearance and its interior," Minnoch said.
They plan to change the pub's name to the Herbertville Saloon and want to turn it into a venue for live music, including hosting high school battles of the bands.
Minnoch is a music veteran and has played in pubs around New Zealand.
He discovered the Herbertville pub one summer. He asked if he could play his guitar in the outdoor bar, the then-owners said yes and he kept coming back.
The road into Herbertville remains under repair after it was extensively damaged. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
With plenty of work needed on the property, which dates to the 1950s after the original building burned down, Minnoch and Shute are planing a gradual reopening.
"To start, the kitchen and the bar floor are priority, and then I'm going to concentrate on one accommodation room at a time," Minnoch said of his plan for the next few weeks.
"It terms of it opening it will definitely be maybe part of the bar and the garden bar first - anything it takes to get open as soon as possible," Shute said.
The mud has gone from the pub, and while there is damage, some essentials - including the chiller - are intact.
It did briefly trade for a few days over New Year, but had to shut again because of licensing issues and for its refurbishment, so it will be a while between drinks for locals.
"They have been really supportive," Shute said.
"Just before the sale went through, before we went unconditional, a group of them arranged a working bee and they came here and cleared all the grounds. It was amazing - just to get us open."
Plenty of hard work was also required to get the Herbertville Campground open - it closed for non-permanent residents for two months last year while 16 truck loads of silt were removed.
John Sedcole says a dry summer has helped the village recover. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
Manager John Sedcole said some cabins were damaged.
"We waited until after winter and put 200 tonnes of metal on the driveway because it was just dust or mud depending on what the weather was like each day.
"Cabins got cleaned up pretty quickly, and the toilet block and kitchen were operating for residents within a week."
After a wet few years this summer stayed dry, and the village was humming.
"In December and January we had over 2000 people through the motorcamp - not all at once of course.
"The biggest night was probably New Year's Eve, when we had nearly 400 people in the campground."
Andy Cumming says the weeks of silt clean up were tough. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
Andy Cumming now lives over the road, but he was staying in a campground cabin when Gabrielle struck.
"I was very lucky I'd just raised it the year before and re-piled it. If I didn't I would have been under water."
After the cyclone he was one of several permanent campground residents who helped Sedcole with the silt clean up.
"I did probably a month, six weeks. By that stage, doing it every day and looking at it every day, I had to get out of here for a week and a half because I was going to lose the plot."
Herbertville is nearly complete again - but the scarred road in and out of the village serve as a reminder of Gabrielle's power and the continuing clean-up.
