Passengers high and dry

ABOUT 700 cruise ship passengers have been forced to spend the night in New Zealand after a wild storm prevented them f r om reboarding their ship.

The vicious weather kept emergency services busy, grounded and diverted planes, tore out trees in Auckland and Northland, cut power and caused a huge rockfall that closed the only road into Milford Sound.

The Sea Princess arrived in Akaroa in the Canterbury region of the South Island on Saturday morning before the storm reached its height.

Rough conditions in the harbour meant the passengers, mostly from the US and Europe, could not reboard in the afternoon, Christchurch City Council said.

Civil Defence staff set up a centre at the Akaroa School Hall and a local pharmacy opened after hours to ensure passengers had access to necessary medication.

The passengers were accommodated in Akaroa and Christchurch overnight and were expected to reboard the ship yesterday as the storm fronts abated.

Air New Zealand cancelled or diverted about 30 mainly regional flights due to severe winds. A Pacific Blue flight from Melbourne to Auckland was diverted to Tauranga.

The gales that lashed Auckland have reduced to blustery winds that would continue for the next few days, Weather Watch analyst Howard Joseph said.

The South Island’s Milford Sound highway will remain closed for several days while a landslide is cleared. The New Zealand Transport Authority said the rocks, some weighing up to 200 tonnes, would have to be broken up using specialist equipment before they could be shifted.

In the meantime, tourists and supplies were being flown in and out of the popular tourist destination.