Today marks six months since the Kaikoura earthquake, and business people there are facing stark differences in fortune.
For some, the quake recovery has caused business to boom, but others are on the brink of going bust.
At 6pm on a Thursday Kaikoura's main bar, the Whaler, is busier than ever.
It's the last bar left standing on the town's main street and owner Hamish Simpson says they've been left "picking up quite a bit of the business" after November 14's 7.8 earthquake.
"We've had to increase our staff numbers and obviously our product costs have increased but it's been ticking away quite well."
Work to clear the slips blocking State Highway 1 has brought in an influx of workers, tasked with moving 400,000 cubic metres of earth.
The job is so big. A temporary village is being built to house 300 contractors.
Clearing the slips and fixing the road is also paying off for Kaikoura locals. Earth moving company Fisseden Brothers have quadrupled their staff.
"Before the earthquake we sort of floated between seven and eight, and last count I think we're up to 38 now," Richard Fissenden says.
It's a different story for the town's tourism-dependant businesses, which has left the main street littered with boarded-up, quake-damaged shops.
Supermarket owner/operator Stepanie Thompson says the majority of businesses in town are between 50 and 60 percent down during "an already quiet time of year".
Retailers are banding together, advocating for a pop-up container mall to attract visitors - a copy of the container mall in Christchurch after the February earthquake.
The highway is due to reopen around Christmas but Ms Thompson fears without help, permanent shop closures are only weeks away.
"We'll become a ghost town, and the brand and image of Kaikoura will be gone forever."
Newshub.