Weathering HEIGHTS

It's a grim outlook, but Kerre feels the fear anyway and heads to Hokianga

- KERRE WOODHAM

The warnings were loud and clear. A cyclone was heading to New Zealand from Fiji and it was likely to cause damage. The Far North, along with the Coromandel, would be first in the firing line and people should be prepared. “Do you think you should go up to the Hoki?” a friend asked me in the days before I packed up the car and headed north.

I thought about it. Friends had been without power for more than a week after a huge storm a couple of years ago. It affected them so much, they decided to move back to the city for good. This area, and this community within this area, is vulnerable to power outages, internet failure, slips and flooding. Was it foolish to head north knowing I could be cut off for days in the worst-case scenario?

But I was craving my week in the Hoki. The summer had been most unsatisfying. I'd only got a week in my happy place because I let it out over Christmas and New Year, thinking a change would be good. It wasn't.