Fishing personality Matt Watson captures some cyclone action from his property on the Purerua Peninsula. Video / Matt Watson
Part of Matt Watson’s roof was ripped off during Cyclone Gabrielle and he’s now got “less lawn and more beach”.
But the Northland-based TV fishing personality has no regrets about building his dream home a stone’s throw from the ocean, even after watching the full force of the storm roar through the valley.
He just hunkered down and videoed the whole thing, then posted it on social media.
“I’ve always wanted to see a big storm come in there being hunkered down in the house,” he said.
“Loads of people commented [on Facebook] ‘that’ll teach him for building so close to the ocean’.
“I’m like well, our floor level is 7m above sea level, if the ocean was to raise 7m there’s probably half a million houses around New Zealand that’ll be wiped out first.”
Matt Watson's roof flashings got ripped off during Cyclone Gabrielle.
Watson and his wife Kaylene constructed their forever home on the Purerua Peninsula, northeast of Kerikeri from 2020 to 2022, filming the build for the TV show Building the Dream.
Kaylene was home for one night of the cyclone, before the power went out and she thought “this isn’t fun” and left to stay in town.
Her ITM Fishing Show host husband had other ideas.
Watson recalls it being 12.30 in the morning on February 13 “when things began cranking up”.
“That was the time I heard the roof go ‘boom’ because of the pressure.
“The roof flashings got ripped off and I had to go out to the boatshed in the dark to grab some tools because bits of the roofing material were smashing against the house.
“Going to the boat shed was wild; the noise was incredible. It was ripping down the valley.”
While many around the North Island weren’t so lucky, Watson knows he got off light.
He lost power for several days but has solar so the house “never lost power completely” and he had Starlink which kept him connected to the outside world.
Apart from the roof flashings and a bit of lawn, some of the seawall boulders were washed away.
But he’s adamant he built his house in the right spot.
Matt Watson has no regrets about building his dream home a stone’s throw from the ocean after experiencing the full force of Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / supplied
“I know what the ocean can do. I’ve seen lots of storms.
“I was under no illusion when building that weather could be an inconvenience.
“But the good outweighs the bad.
“You’ve got to allow for the worst conditions. If they’re talking about this being an unprecedented event, the water got nowhere near our house.”
As for planning and design experts advising people not to build near the water, Watson said there were already “a huge bunch of hurdles for anyone wanting to build by the water.”
“I don’t think the threat comes from the ocean so much, it’s more the water flow coming off the hills and slips.
“We over-engineered the building and the foundations. I was only required to have 400mm I had 750mm for the stormwater pipes, I built in extra retaining walls, and allowed for overland flow paths.
“It comes down to doing your due diligence and accepting there is a degree of risk.
“You are never going to beat nature, but you can mitigate its effects through good planning and construction.”
Archive photo of TV fishing personality Matt Watson, with son Shaw, wife Kaylene and daughter Hannah, at the site of their new house on the Purerua peninsula. Photo / supplied
Watson said councils and the central government “have to get their act together” and fix crucial infrastructure.
“They’ve got an obligation to make sure the infrastructure is fit for purpose. They’re always talking about needing more housing and making more space for people, but you can’t say you want that and not upgrade the roads and stormwater. Do that first.”
His advice to others considering building in their dream location is to “look at what’s happened to the land in the last 50 years”.
“One of the things I did during Cyclone Wilma in 2011, and there was another cyclone after that, I went out and photographed and filmed the water flow paths and kept accurate data on the rainfall.
“So I was aware of where nature wanted to send the water and planned my house around that.
