We arrived on the South Island and it'd been raining for several days. On our drive from the airport, the officials closed all roads to Gore, much of the town flooded and it was declared an official disaster as best I know.
Julie was in constant contact with us and once we realized we couldn't make it, she was incredibly apologetic and refunded us all our payments and kept in touch to ensure we found accomodations. When we can make it back to NZ, we'll be back to Gore and hopefully be able to stay with Julie, I'm certain her cabin is incredible.