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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 10, Issue 4 (July 1, 1935.)
Refugees for Rotorua
Refugees for Rotorua.
By that time everyone was leaving Wairoa, and we wanted the girls to
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go with the rest, but they refused unless we came as well. As we did not think there was much chance of anyone being found alive amongst the ruins, and as we did not know but what there would be a recurrence of the fall of mud, we thought our duties lay more towards the living than the dead. We decided to go out with the rest. The only inhabited place within reach was Rotorua, and that is about the last place one would look upon as a haven of refuge at the time of a volcanic upheaval, still it was the only place for us to seek.
One extra large lump … went through a picture hanging on the wall.”
Survey party on the site of Te Arika (near Mt. Tarawera.)
When we got through Tikitapu bush, we found to our delight Ted Robertson there with a buggy and pair. I do not think I was ever so glad to see anyone as I was to see Ted. He told us Rotorua was intact, but most of the people had gone towards Tauranga or Oxford (now Tirau). We got the girls into the buggy and returned to Wairoa, and began to clear away the debris of the demolished house. I soon found that the cut I had received when breaking the windows was more severe than I thought, and I could not do much digging.