Part Of State Highway 1 Is "Stuffed" Says John Key

Prime Minister John Key says it is hard to see how quake-damaged Kaikoura's coastal State Highway One can be salvaged.

It's "really stuffed", Key said.

Key, in his second visit to Kaikoura since Monday's quake, and Transport Minister Simon Bridges flew over the devastated region in an RNZAF NH90 helicopter.

It was Bridges' first look at the slips and damage to the coastal State Highway One and the rail line.

Bridges' verdict when he saw the first major slip was "pretty messy".

But Key pointed out that it was not the biggest one "by any stretch of the imagination", pointing out massive slips that had totally obliterated the road.

"This road is really stuffed and there's thousands of metres of it. I just don't see how you can ever repair that bit of road. The whole mountain has moved over."

He said on his earlier visit on Monday they had seen the northernmost damage.

Read the full story at NZ Herald