A major slip on the only road to Jackson Bay in South Westland is causing headaches for tourist operators.
Not only does the slip deny tourists the popular option of lunch at the Craypot cafe, a cruise ship is due to make a rare visit to the tiny settlement tomorrow. How its 120 passengers get from the ship to a planned jet-boat excursion was unclear yesterday.
A spokeswoman for Waiatoto River Safari said she was unsure if the ship visit would still go ahead.
‘‘It's a big slip and the road's closed. So we are just in the planning stages at the moment and we can't shed much light on whether it's going to happen or not.''
While the general public could not use the road, she understood some local fishermen had been through.
The ship, Silver Discoverer, also has its own fleet of 12 Zodiac inflatable boats for landing on ‘‘isolated shores''.
A South Westland tourist operator, who did not want to be named, said the slip came down between Neils Beach and Jackson Bay about 10 days ago after 700mm of rain fell in 30 hours.
‘‘It's covered the road and gone about 100m into the sea.''
She was unhappy the closure was not publicised and that it was taking so long to get the road reopened.
‘‘Jackson Bay is one of our main attractions and the Craypot at Jackson Bay is iconic, and people can't get to it.
‘‘If this was the access road to the glaciers, they'd pull out all stops to get it fixed.''
The road belongs to the Westland District Council, and its field inspections officer, John Bainbridge, was at the slip site yesterday but could not be contacted.
