Son moves home to help parents reopen iconic Puketapu pub

The Puketapu owner Mary Danielson is happy to take a step back as her son Sam Danielson takes over the family bar and restaurant. Photo / Warren Buckland

After 17 years of building up The Puketapu, a community pub and restaurant, Cyclone Gabrielle pulled it apart in one morning

Owners Mary and Chris Danielson really didn’t know if they could - or even wanted to - reopen, knowing all the hard work ahead of them.

The pair hunkered down through the stormy night on February 13, listening and waiting for dribs and drabs of information. Mary said all night she and Chris had been hearing different stories, including that the bridge had gone at around 4am on February 14.

“I didn’t think that could be possible, because that bridge was so high,” Mary said.

It was a long night. Mary said she did fall asleep and when she woke that morning Puketapu was flooded all around her, the houses across the road from the pub had water up to their windows and people needed to be rescued.

On the morning of February 14 Cyclone Gabrielle flooded Puketapu, engulfing The Puketapu pub.

Mary and Chris believed their restaurant and bar was in the clear as by 7am everything around them was flooded and The Puketapu had been missed as it was higher.

However just afterwards Mary said, “The water came charging in the front door. That was quite scary. I think I was in a bit of shock for a minute or two.”

The whole experience was terrifying for Mary. One minute she was watching people being rescued from their homes which she said “was awful” and then the next minute her pub was gone as well.

“You just see your whole business gone and it was a bit emotional at that stage, then I think you just go into overdrive. We couldn’t do anything with the pub so we just went outside to try and help people.

Inside The Puketapu, water came rushing in bringing silt and other debris leaving the local bar and restaurant ruined.

“That first day was a very hard day to get through but we were very busy and our village just came together and it was just beautiful, everyone just looked after each other,” The Puketapu owner said.

While Mary and Chris were helping stranded RSE workers and people who were dropped off at the Puketapu Dairy after being rescued from rooftops by helicopter, their son Sam Danielson was in Auckland trying to figure out what was going on.

Sam was seeing the news, but he wasn’t getting enough information about what was happening in Puketapu, so he took to social media.

He joined several Hawke’s Bay Facebook community groups and found it was really the only way to get and share information.

Mary Danielson inside the pub where damaged walls have been pulled up. Photo / Paul Taylor

“The power of local social media groups was amazing,” Sam said.

Mary said, “There was a major disconnection between people even within the same community, you didn’t know anything about other people.

“I think the other thing that was horrible and frightening was that we couldn’t let our families know we were safe and we didn’t know about our friends just up the road, because we were completely blocked off everywhere,” Mary said.

On day one Mary and Chris climbed a hill and managed to get a couple of minutes of phone reception to relay some messages to their daughter in Central Hawke’s Bay, who then let Sam know what was going on.

Sam knew he had to get back and help his family, so he took time off work and three days after Gabrielle hit he was home.

Sam was shocked when he arrived.

“I had seen everything on the news, but when you see it in person, it’s a lot more real.”

Mary Danielson walking through The Puketapu where damaged walls have been pulled up. Photo / Paul Taylor

Seeing the devastation to The Puketapu, Sam decided to stay and help his parents. He handed in his resignation.

Sam explained his bosses were “bloody good” about him leaving. His contract had an eight-week notice period in it, but they let him go straight away.

Mary said, “It was fantastic to have him back, and then we could get on with it.”

In the first few days The Puketapu was a total wreck. Mary said she and Chris are close to retirement and after being at the pub for 17 years and building it up they would have to start all over again, without a bridge or cycling tracks to bring people in.

“So when Sam said he would move back and help, it was like the decision was made to get it up and going,” Mary said.

“Sam has taken over running The Puketapu bar and restaurant and it’s fantastic, and great for me,” Mary added, as now she can relax a little. It has also freed her up for work she has been doing with the community.

With Sam leading the charge and the decision made, it took four and a half months to get The Puketapu up and running again.

The Puketapu has finally fully reopened after Cyclone Gabrielle sent flood waters rushing through the local pub. Photo / Warren Buckland

The rebuild gave Sam and Mary a chance to open up the space with lighter colours and more windows.

“When something like this happens it, gives you that opportunity to think about how you want to do it, so we decided to open it up,” Sam said.

People have been commenting on how much bigger the space looks, and Mary and Sam put it all down to their “amazing” builders, plumbers and sparkies. Everyone really gelled and it became like a big family.

The pair also decided to keep on six members of staff while doing the refit, and those staff members went well outside of their comfort zones to help with the clean up and refurbish of The Puketapu, sanding back and re-staining the old tables, helping with painting and just helping where they could.

This made the good culture at the bar even better, Mary said it’s the strongest it’s ever been.

A wall in The Puketapu has been decorated with a fitting poem written by Jo Gordon about the Cyclone Gabrielle flooding. Photo / Warren Buckland

While working on the refit the Puketapu had been able to keep their garden bar open two nights a week, with Wednesday night being a blokes night and Friday night being a family night.

The Puketapu wanted to do this so that people could come to have a chat and get out of the silt, with mental health and wellbeing being a big thing for the community.

Mary explained mental health in Puketapu was getting really bad and the issues are still there.

During the weeks after Cyclone Gabrielle the pub became a hub for all things community and with The Puketapu reopening it’s still a place for people to come and chat and get away from the ongoing day-to-day recovery.

Staff members came back as soon as they heard the pub and restaurant were open again, and all that is left is for Sam to get more people through the doors.

He explained they are seeing the amazing loyal local support, however with the bike paths and bridges gone, they aren’t getting as many people through the door and are working hard to get people coming in to make it worth staying open.

The pub has started up merch with the bar’s name “The Puketapu” and because it represents Puketapu people are proud to be wearing it.

“We got all the hoodies last week and sold out within five days, which we didn’t expect, so I have ordered a whole lot more,” Sam said.

Now Sam is letting the rest of Hawke’s Bay know that The Puketapu is now reopened for business.

To keep updated with what’s going on at The Puketapu people can follow the pub’s Facebook page for all the latest announcements.