Pukenui locals are rearranging their lives in the wake of a washout on the only road in the area.
State Highway 1 between Kaitaia and Cape Reinga was completely washed away on the weekend leaving hundreds stranded.
A police escort started taking convoys of essential travellers through on a forestry road about an hour ago. Local Sylvia Bryant lives just south of the washout, but found herself stranded north of the washout on Friday.
