A Central Hawke’s Bay farmer got the surprise of his life when he discovered a huge crack through one of his hill paddocks.
Matt Holden said there had been a lot of rain in Ongaonga, but the land looked like it had moved because of an earthquake, rather than a slip.
“It was a relief that it hadn’t damaged any fences or stock, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is pretty cool’. It looked like a big gaping crack and it got my blood flowing. I couldn’t help myself and crawled to the edge to have a look.”
He described the 20m crack as like a hot knife through butter, leaving enough space to stack three truck-and-trailers in it.
![The hole would fit three truck and trailers, Matt Holden said. Photo Matt / Holden](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/WQYTDBDFNVGEVFFJFRHLRVZKKE.jpg?auth=320efe2b4c0acd2b91dd7d230b7299f1971976639b1f3c8728530185009c4fe7&width=16&height=10&quality=70&smart=true)