Work to clean up the mess caused by flooding in March has been made a bit brighter - in the name of art made entirely of rubbish.
The mess was caused by the storm which also destroyed the Waiho River Bridge - south of the Franz Josef township - and caused widespread flooding across Westland.
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It was expected the effects of the storm - which swept piles of rubbish down the Fox River - would be felt for months to come.
But it's not all doom and gloom, and a bit of fun and creativity has added a bright side to the cleanup.
The art has been listed on Trade Me, and the listing says all proceeds from its sale would go to Sustainable Coastlines - an environmental charity.
"With climate change as an issue threatening our landfills located near waterways, we want to raise awareness through the environmental disaster that occurred this year in March at the Fox Glacier," the listing says.
The artwork was made from recycled rubbish from the Fox clean up, with the help of volunteers.
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Locals have been faced with removing thousands of tonnes of rubbish as a result of the March storm, and even the New Zealand Defence Force has jumped on board to assist.
Department of Conservation (DoC) South Westland operations manager Wayne Costello said about 5500 tonnes of rubbish were washed out during the storm - contaminating the Fox River.
The rubbish - most of which was plastic, was entangled with logs or buried under rocks, he said.
In June, DoC replaced the Westland District Council as the lead agency coordinating the cleanup. The council was forced to abandon amid financial hardship.
Newshub.
