Martin van Beynen's Tsunami Diary

6.15am Chief reporter texts me to let me know we are being evacuated because of a Tsunami. 6.20am Turn on the radio and go back to bed.

Hear the Tsumani not expected to hit the Chathams until 7.22am.

Start remembering that Tsunami hit Lyttelton Harbour in 1961 sending fish to their deaths on farmland and flooding the Wheatsheaf Hotel in Teddington.

Water up to the bar apparently. Also wrecked the water pipeline bringing water from Lyttelton to Diamond Harbour.

7am Listen to the news to find out Banks Peninsula is one of the areas they are concerned about and then get out of bed. Look outside. The sea is like a millpond and it's a beautiful day.

7.10am Ask Paula if we should have a cup of tea while we wait for the Tsunami but she has already put the jug on. We have a cup of coffee and I check the port to see if any ships in. None that I can see.

7.17am The sun is creeping up the Port Hills and the acting National Co-ordinator for Civil Defence comes on the radio. What a time to be acting I think.

7.45am The Tsumani is making its way across the Pacific. Hear a surge of about 20cm has hit the Chathams but the waterfront market in Napier is proposing to go ahead. Start packing my emergency reporting kit. Three muesli bars and a litre of water and a windproof jacket. Siren goes to activate Diamond Harbour Volunteer Fire Brigade. Head down to Purau on my bike.

8.05am First people I meet are some Purau locals who have stopped at the Purau beach on their way out. They point to a juvenile yellow-eyed penguin looking forlorn on the beach. Say they were woken about 5.45 and told about the alert.

8.10am Meet Howard Williams, an Ecan scientist who should be used to be being swamped with unfortunate events. He and civil defence volunteer Sheldon Ramer, a counsellor, have been around all the houses in Purau, he says, to let people know. Howard, his wife Carol and two visitors are on their way to higher ground.

8.20am See Sheldon Ramer and follow him around as he knocks on doors. He says he was rung three hours ago. "It's a lovely neighbourhood,'' he says. "I've spent more time on the phone with people asking if I'm aware of the tsunami than I have alerting people. He is on his way to a talk at the Bowling Club about the Virtues of Caring. We meet Anna Mahy driving on the waterfront. She heard about the alert at 6.30am and packed her wedding and baby photos. "Everything else can wait,'' she says. Her three children are having a sleepover up the road at a friend's farm which is well above sea level. The Mahys have lived in Purau for 18 months and already this is their third alert.

8.30am Go in to see Robyn Ferris, his partner Jenny Roper and their daughter Jodie Leigh-Roper and her friend Ruth Grossi who came to Purau for the weekend and stayed in a holiday house. They are now packing ready to move out. "Even if nothing happens it's been a good exercise,'' Ferris says. "It just shows the system works,'' Jenny Roper says. Don't forget the dog, I say.

8.55am Water is lapping gently at the Purau shore and not a breath of wind to be seen. The Diamond Harbour Fire Brigade arrive to do a final check. The truck is driven by Denzel Belcher who would normally be heading for tennis. Barry Craw and Tom Clark are making the house calls. Clark stops to suggest to a couple of German tourists parked on the foreshore that they might be better off higher up.

9.15am Have a ride around the streets and see some people still in their homes, obviously not too worried. See Denzel again and it's ten minutes away and to get on my bike.

9.20am Arrive at good vantage point overlooking Purau. Ask some onlookers what time the first surge is expected and they say "five minutes ago''. It's close to low tide and the water looks unruffled.

9.25am Some definite ripples on the water like moving folds in skin. Could just be the tide coming in.

10am Hear the water is draining out of Gisborne beach but nothing is happening at Purau. Plenty of activity on the road down to Purau. A jogger comes past and I can see some cyclists headed our way.

11am Low tide and almost on the dot the water starts to recede. Along some parts of the beach its only 30m or so but at the shallower end its more than 100m. I can see an eel flapping about in the mud by the rocks.

11.15am The water returns rapidly but doesn't come up to the point it reached before the big withdrawal.

11.25am The water starts going out again. Walk out into the bay figuring I have enough time to make it to the rocks before I get submerged if it comes racing back in. Walk out a long way into the bay with the water just over my sandles. The tide must have gone out 300m to 400m below most normal low tide. Little fish are jumping but nothing appears to be stranded. Inconvenient for the camera.

11.40am Suddenly the water comes surging back as quick as I can jog through the water. The water is muddy. Get my pants wet but everything important is dry. Midday Water is approaching the lighter sand on the beach, almost like a high tide. Take some more photos before getting on my bike to ride home. Convinced I have some front page pictures. Discover I have a puncture. Fix it on the foreshore under a tree. Back on the bike and stop to chat to the McQuillan family who are having a picnic on the foreshore. They had planned a picnic in Purau before hearing of the tsunami but decided to carry on anyway. "What's the risk,'' says Philip McQuillan.

- © Fairfax NZ News