Jane Benton (40) and her stepdaughter, Kylie (21), sustained minor injuries after a huge fall of mud and rocks in Mangorewa Gorge, north of Rotorua, crushed their car and shoved another over a bank yesterday morning.
Senior Sergeant Denton Grimes, of Tauranga, said four cars were travelling on the section of highway at the time of the slip, and two were caught by tumbling debris.
Ms Benton, a financial adviser, said she had just been talking about how shaky the road looked during its reconstruction when the cliff fractured next to her.
"I saw something out of the corner of my eye and thought `that shouldn't be happening . . . we're goners'. As a huge woosh of boulders hit us I looked in the rear-view [mirror] and saw a car behind us swept over the gorge. I thought we would follow."
"Rocks hit the bonnet, the side; it was over really quickly. And then there was quiet."
Forestry worker Kelvin Meredith was driving in the opposite direction to the Bentons and saw their car engulfed in the piles of rock.
Their Mercedes was "squashed almost into the ground".
"I thought they had no chance. But then I heard the voices coming from the wreck."
Mr Meredith cut the car open with a hacksaw to ease the pressure on Kylie, who was in the passenger seat with the roof pressing down on her, before roadworkers helped peel back the roof.
Passers-by comforted the trapped occupants during the wait for emergency services.
The lack of cellphone coverage in the low-lying road meant a call for an ambulance was delayed.
The women were pinned for an hour before being freed. "I could feel my feet so I knew I was OK," Ms Benton said.
"But I could smell petrol and people kept saying the cliff could go again at any time."
The two were taken to Rotorua Hospital with the driver of the sedan that was pushed over the bank.
All three were discharged with minor injuries.
Ms Benton, who drives through the gorge daily to work in Tauranga, said she would not be taking the route again.
