Uncertain future for historic home
The owners of a century-old Riwaka homestead face an uncertain few weeks to hear if their home will survive another generation.
The Ryder family’s Riwaka homestead, at the base of Takaka Hill, was badly damaged in a landslide during ex-Cyclone Gita on February 20.
The interior of the house is ruined and family and friends have been working for days to remove mud, logs and rocks. However, they were able to salvage most personal possessions and save a goat from the rising floodwaters.
The homestead itself has been in the family for four generations and six generations have lived on the land dating back to the original house on site, built when the first Ryders arrived in New Zealand in the 1850s.
The current homestead was built 107 years ago and is now owned by descendant Steve Ryder and his wife Jo.
Jo was working in Nelson when Gita hit the Tasman region last week, but Steve was at home cooking dinner.
He tried to divert water away from their nearby shed with a tractor and used apple cases and firewood to block the incoming water.
His next task was to rescue a goat belonging to a tenant on the property, which was tethered in its house. ‘‘When he got to the goat it had about 10cm of air gap left – the goat was nearly underwater,’’ Jo said.
Less than five minutes after getting the goat to higher ground, the first wave of slips descended on the property.
With roads throughout the area out of order overnight, Jo was forced to stay with relatives in Motueka, while Steve stayed with neighbours.
The next morning, the couple were able to grasp the true extent of the landslide’s damage.
‘‘I was in shock to see all the devastation – I was stunned,’’ Jo said. ‘‘It’s gone right through the house at varying depths, I guess the deepest is about 18 inches – most of it came in the back and piled up to the height of the door handle.
‘‘A lot came through the back door that [Steve] had left open but somehow the door had closed again and held a lot of it back, otherwise it would have been a lot worse.’’
Many personal possessions and some furniture was saved due to being above the water level.
However, the Ryder’s were ‘‘really at a standstill’’ as they waited for insurers and EQC to carry out an assessment on the house and property.
Jo said an evaluation of the land underneath the homestead may determine the ultimate fate of the house.
‘‘It’s quite stressful waiting for something to happen ... it’s deteriorating the longer the house is left and it is worth saving – this is a beautiful old house.
‘‘The insurance company had arranged for builders to come and open up the walls to air them out, but there’s been some kind of controversy so they’ve left and nothing’s happened in the last two days.’’
Flooding had occurred before on the property. However, Jo said last week’s landslide was the first time that the current homestead had been inundated with water and debris.
Fortunately, the family had also received an influx of support from family and friends and the wider Motueka community from mucking in with the clean-up to providing meals and baking.
‘‘It’s been very comforting.’’