West Coast Weather Disruption

Further to our newsletter on 12th of December, we are pleased to report there has been significant progress on the section of State Highway 6 between Franz Josef and Hokitika on the West Coast.

Following reports just released by the local transport authorities, we are pleased to advise this part of State Highway 6 is now scheduled to open Friday 20^th December at 9am, subject to weather conditions. 

At this stage it is expected that once this section of the highway is open, there will be traffic lights and single lanes through several areas between Harihari and Whataroa and further south in the Fox Hills between Fox and Franz Josef Glacier, so please allow for extra travelling time. 

Our team are working through any affected bookings and will be in touch accordingly to discuss arrangements. 

We continue to monitor the situation and will be in touch should there be any further updates or changes.

Further to our newsletter on Monday 9 December, we are pleased to report there has been good progress on the West Coast in the wake of the recent weather disruption.

Following is the latest information we have on the progress:

• As of Wednesday 11 December, local authorities have advised that full road access to State Highway 6 from Wanaka as far North as Whataroa (just north of Franz Josef) will reopen to traffic 24/7, however it is expected some delays will occur. Particular note is area over Fox Hills located between Fox & Franz Josef Glacier which will only be open during daylight hours of 8am to 8pm.   
• A key section of State Highway 6 (25 kms in length) between Franz Josef and Hokitika remains closed while repairs continue, however the local authorities are working hard to have this reopened by Christmas. For this reason our team are redirecting any clients that had services booked on the West Coast up until 23 December and will be in touch once details are in place.
• The Rangitata River Bridge on State Highway 1 in Canterbury remains closed while engineers continue to work on repairs.  However Route 72 (the inland diversion) is in place as the alternative route through to Christchurch. 

We continue to monitor the situation and will be in touch should there be any further updates.

Over the last 48 hours you may have heard news about the heavy rain that has caused significant disruption on the West Coast of the South Island.

Additionally, there has also been a road closure with State Highway 1 South of Christchurch blocked off due to high water levels and road flooding - There is an alternate route for this section of road now in place so traffic can move North & South (travel times will be much slower than normal).

WEST COAST – SOUTH ISLAND

The West Coast has been heavily impacted with rain and flooding in some areas resulting in a number of land slips and washouts.
Currently the road is closed from Hokitika right through to Haast (please see the image above) – While teams on the ground are working hard to address the areas affected, there is no clear time frame as to when the roads will re-open at this stage.

We will continue to monitor the situation and send updates as they come to hand.

Actions to Address:
Our team has been busy working with clients who were on the West Coast over the weekend or who were due to travel to the West Coast.

• Clients who were scheduled to travel to the West Coast have had their itineraries re-routed – PDNZ consultants have updated agents who had clients that were impacted.
• For those clients who were already on the West Coast we have been busy offering options to fly out of Franz Josef - PDNZ consultants have updated agents who had clients that were impacted.

While there is uncertainty around the region, we have made the decision to re-route any clients with itineraries who are scheduled to travel to the West Coast across the next 7 days. Any clients that are impacted will be updated in full and we will keep agents across the changes as they are made.

Looking ahead, we are in communication with local authorities and when we have clarity on how long the repair works will take, we will make plans accordingly for clients scheduled to travel to the region.

IMPORTANT – If you currently have any clients traveling in New Zealand, can you please email us their contact details (either mobile phone or email) – this is very important as it will allow us to communicate with clients much more effectively.

While the team work through these challenges, please be aware there might be some slight delays in turnaround times, however we are doing our very best to ensure this is not the case.

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to let us know.