Businesses battling the weather
KAIKOURA: A second hard winter is on its way for some Kaikoura businesses, after a summer season that was interrupted by cyclones and other wild weather.
The main route into the town only reopened last December after being shut for more than a year in the wake of the magnitude7.8 earthquake in 2016.
Thousands of tourists flocked to the town until Cyclone Gita hit in February, closing the route once again.
Karen Barwick’s cafe and ice cream bar, Poppy’s, served up homemade ice cream and homecooked meals, but after a stopstart summer Ms Barwick was wondering how she would keep the doors to her business open.
‘‘We’ve had to diversify a lot. We’ve had to do very long hours just to stay open,’’ she said.
‘‘We’ve done that, but now that winter is here . . . I don’t know how we are going to survive the next two or three months.’’
Just this week heavy rain and a blocked drain flooded at least one shop.
Wild weather and seismic events were now a part of everyday life in Kaikoura.
And although locals were trying to remain positive, Ms Barwick said it was taking a toll on businesses.
‘‘It’s just one day at a time . . . you just have to do what you have to do.’’
Megan May, owner of Wildflower Botanicals, had to lease part of her shop space last year just to keep afloat.
Heading into winter this year, she said she still took each day as it came.
‘‘Winter is never good here, everything slows down.
‘‘I think I’m just taking each day as it comes. I figured I’d just turn up and see what happens.’’
Penny Betts owns Gecko Gearz, and had opened a second shop over summer to serve the torrent of tourists who travelled State Highway 1 after it reopened last December.
Up to 5500 vehicles used the route daily.
She planned to close over winter as the tourist trade dried up, and take a break for the first time since the quakes.
‘‘I’m just going to close down for a time, take some time out and sort out some other stuff.
‘‘We need to go away and have a family holiday, recharge the batteries. And when we come back we will hit the ground running getting ready for summer.’’
Kaikoura mayor Winston Grey said bad weather could cause serious problems for the touristdependent, seaside town.
However, he was confident there was light at the end of the tunnel.
‘‘The last couple of weeks have been wet . . . it’s not a big impediment . . . but that probably doesn’t help.’’ — RNZ