A huge 700 tonne boulder affectionately named "Rocky" has been blown to pieces beside the Kaikoura coastal highway.
The closure of State Highway 1 caused by ex-Cyclone Gita allowed recovery teams to bring the boulder down safely earlier this week while no one was on the road.
Rocky was located just north of Ohau Stream, north of Kaikoura.
"Due to its size, another earthquake could have sent it rolling down the hill, taking out any rockfall protection in the process," The North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery (NCTIR) team says in a statement.
Preparation for the blast had begun in November but with ex-cyclone Gita causing the road closure the team started preparing in case there was a fair weather day suitable for a blast.
Abseilers prepared to blow up the rock with explosives and detonators were delivered separately by helicopter.
"The controlled blast was extremely successful, you can see in the footage chunks of rocks rolling down the hill coming to rest on the slip side of the rock fall protection", says NCTIR Health and Safety Manager, Stephen Bell.
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