School children on the "wrong side" of a slip that has closed Kairakau Rd in Central Hawke's Bay have been provided with a novel alternative to avoid what could be a long detour for their school bus.
The rural road, which leads to Kairakau and Mangakuri beach settlements, is closed at the 7.1km mark after last week's deluge of rain caused significant road movement.
Elsthorpe School principal Sandy Crawford says the CHB District Council and a farmer whose land borders the slip quickly solved the issue of how to get the children to school.
"There is now a walking path over the farmer's land, which the council has fenced and mown. It's on the safe side of the slip, at quite a distance from the actual land movement. Parents take their children to a collection point and they are escorted over the path by council contractors and delivered to the school bus.
"The reverse happens in the afternoon, where the bus driver delivers the children to the staff who escort them over the path to their parents.