More than two weeks after Cyclone Gabrielle created a massive landslide next door, a retired couple in Gisborne still don't know if they can stay or go.
The Fosters have been living in their caravan since moving out of their country homestead after the land slid nearly a kilometre.
The slip caused about a million dollars worth of damage to a neighbouring farm, and the Fosters are waiting to see if their home will be red-stickered.
As the sun finally emerges in Gisborne, the full extent of the landslide is on show. At 250 metres across and a kilometre long, it's arguably the biggest in the district.
Incredibly, the landslide missed the Fosters' homestead by a metre, and homeowner Clive Foster said they barely heard it coming.
"We walked out onto that front lawn only to see all those trees being carted away, smashed down, broken, munched up and moved on," Foster said.
Newshub asked him what he first thought it was.
"We were just a bit shell-shocked really. I don't know what I was thinking but it wasn't good," he said.
It's now been more than two weeks since the land slid down the Manutuke Hill.
It's been more than two weeks since the Fosters emptied their home, unhooked their precious photos, moved into their caravan and converted the garage into a lounge.
And it's more than two weeks of shock and distress, but they still don't know what's going to happen to them or their house.
Foster told Newshub a bit more communication would be good.
"Well, we don't really know much, if anything at all. I believe we are going to be red-stickered and what happens from now on I don't know. It's terrible. It's bloody awful to be honest," he said.
The homestead has been in the family for about 100 years. It's Clive's dream retirement spot.
It was the views he loved. They're slightly different now.
When Newshub asked him what the house means to him and his family, he walked away. It's a tough time, emotions are still high, but he's glad to be alive.
It could have been so much worse - his neighbours took a big hit.
One area of Gisborne land used to be an orchard of mandarins and limes, and now it's 20 metres down from where it once was.
There were two 20,000-litre water tanks, with one getting buried and the other shunted 20 metres towards the house.
Now what's going to happen to all this mud and debris, no one knows.
It could sit here for up to a year.
It's estimated about four hectares of orchard is buried deep and written off and that's about $120,000 worth.
More trees will have to be removed to make way for a creek, and there's about $800,000 worth of damage to the land above it.
The ground has to dry out before it's cleared and replanted - realistically, that's next summer.
"Well, hopefully it will turn out right. At the end of the day, it could take a while, I dare say it will take a while," Foster told Newshub.
And all for a slide that happened in the blink of an eye.
