The owners of Kakanui's Coast Cafe where a car ploughed sideways through the front of the building at the start of Labour Weekend are resolutely optimistic about the future of the business they have owned for just seven months.
Once the shock of seeing a car lodged several metres deep in their cafe late on Friday night subsided, Sarah Bugden decided to see it as ''a blessing in disguise''.
''I wanted to do a few things,'' she said. ''Make it mine.''
With debris strewn through the cafe yesterday and the power still out, she said she hoped to have the cafe operating again by Christmas.
After a slow winter, the seasonal business had just started picking up for what should have been a busy spring and summer. Instead, she was cleaning up the ''disaster area'', salvaging what she could and itemising the lost items for insurance purposes.
''It still hasn't sunk in that we own the place,'' Mrs Bugden said.
''It was a dream, because I've always wanted my own cafe, but when we moved in here, it didn't feel right, because it wasn't mine. This is my chance to do it.''
Her husband and partner Wayne Bugden surveyed broken glass, bent metal chairs and partial walls stacked on the floor of the closed cafe yesterday and joked ''a bit of paint, she'll be right''.
''There's no point dwelling on it,'' he said.
''It's not going to get us anywhere.''
The Bugdens closed the cafe after a table of eight customers left on Friday night at 7.30. They left the building about 8.45pm. As they were going to bed about 11.20pm, the police called them to say ''there is a car parked in your building''.
''I thought it was a joke,'' Mrs Bugden said.
Police said on Monday the 29-year-old driver of the car that left Beach Rd had been charged with driving while disqualified and dangerous driving causing injury.
The car had careered for about 40m before hitting the building. All three occupants were taken to Oamaru Hospital with minor injuries
St John had already transported them to the hospital when the Bugdens arrived. Only police and fire crews remained at the scene.
Because the building's power had been shut off, the Bugdens and three helpers emptied and shifted five freezers filled with food to Mr Bugden's parents' Kakanui farm between 1.30am and 5.30am.
The business had been burgled just two months after the Bugdens took over the business so Mr Bugden stayed at the site. Locals and regulars had offered support and the Bugdens had received overseas support on their business Facebook page.
''That sort of gives you an incentive to just keep on going,'' Mrs Bugden said.
