A Tayside man has told of the “end of days” experience that saw him caught in the middle of a massive earthquake in New Zealand.
The quake — which had a magnitude of 7.8 and claimed the lives of two people — devastated the small town of Kaikoura on the South Island of the Pacific nation.
Scott Farkas, from Monifieth, and his partner Carly Dickerson, 24, were sleeping in a camper van at a camping site near the town where they had spent the day before returning to the site just before the destructive force rocked the area.
The pair were airlifted to safety after being stranded for 18 hours. They had even taken to the sea to fish for food.
The 24-year-old today told the Tele that “it was like the end of the world” as the tremors brought the mountainside crumbling around them.
He said: “We went to bed and then Carly woke me up and said that we were rolling back down the hill.
“I jumped up and pulled the handbrake but it was already on.
“The whole car was shaking and being thrown about.
“We got out of the car and found some other people who were staying at the site.
“There was a really strong smell of sulphur in the air and it sounded like it was raining but that was actually the landslide coming down off the mountain.
“The trees were being completely ripped out it was so powerful.
“It was a terrifying experience — the roads were completely ripped up.
“At one point, the ground had moved up about 15 feet. Then there were loads of aftershocks, which weren’t as bad but still pretty scary.”
Just 50 metres from where they camped, a major landslide had taken place, destroying everything in its path.
A Kiwi tanker driver stopped to aid the group and they were then sheltered in Waipapa Bay Crayfish and Camp crab shack.
The seabed around the area had risen so high that they were able to rake in tens of thousands of dollars worth of crayfish, lobster and paua.
However, the ordeal didn’t stop there as shortly after, word was sent round warning everyone to prepare for a tsunami.
They were also told that they were not a high priority for air rescue because they had shelter and others across the island were completely stranded.
Scott said: “That was a scary time for us. We asked what we should do and were told to find higher ground but there was no way of doing that after the earthquake.
“They told us to swim for it and there was nothing that we could do.
“We started preparing for the worst — I even went and found a little kayak in case we needed it.
“There were dozens of helicopters flying overhead rescuing people who were stranded.
“We were flown out of the area in an army helicopter around 8pm.”
Scott had initially moved to Auckland with Carly for a working holiday in April and the pair had decided to take three weeks off to travel around the South Island.
He said that their families were terrified that they had perished in the disaster, as there was no phone reception to send word home that they were OK.
Scott’s brother was even considering getting a flight across and launching a search party.
They are now safely back in Auckland living with friends and plan to travel around Asia and Australia.