Cyclone Gabrielle and Wairakei Drive

Cyclone Gabrielle left a trail of devastation and heartbreak throughout the North Island with the recovery efforts still ongoing and will be for a long, long time. For us here in the Central North Island, the cyclone hit localised areas with intense wind and rain. All the forestry in the area was massively impacted with thousands of pine trees blown over or split. Many amenity trees within the town and surrounding areas were also uprooted or damaged.

Once the cyclone had passed and the roads were opened, we went out to assess the damage and see how the Greening Taupō planting sites weathered the storm. 

Locally, around town, there was minimal damage to the local planting sites. We were very fortunate, but the scene down Wairakei Drive was overwhelming, the number of fallen trees was crazy, trees, branches, and pinecones were scattered everywhere. 

It was clear that there was a lot of work needed to clean up the damage caused by the cyclone.

Wairakei Drive is more than just an ordinary road; it's a project driven by the passion and dedication of Shawn Vennell. In 2015, Shawn partnered with Greening Taupō and successfully raised over $100,000 through the charitable event called "King of the Ring". Since then, we have organised more than 20 planting events on the drive, planting over 30,000 native plants. Shawn has taken great care to maintain and nurture these sites and they have thrived. Additionally, he has taken pride in ensuring the surrounding areas are well-maintained. Along with Shawn, Andrew Hilton has also been hard at work supporting Shawn and also working on a few other sites, weeding, planting and maintaining along Karapoti Road. 

There were large pines and other large trees blown over within a few Wairakei drive planting sites along the drive, many have been accessible by the firewood faires and they have cleared up the majority of the timber, leaving only branches and the large root ball of the trees behind. Karatoto Road was the most damaged, with Cathedral, Te Totara and the Honey Trail having significant damage. Andrew and Shawn got stuck in and did what they could, releasing plants from under collapsed trees, opening the tracks and mounding the rubbish. The Honey Trail is a site that has undergone a major transformation. With the collapse of all the backwoods due to the cyclone, all the timber and branches have now been mounded into big rows. As Greening Taupō has a permit for this area, we are planning to plant in natives in 2024 with the community. Watch this space..