© ROSS GIBLIN/STUFFRaging seas hit the seawall at Wellington's Lyall Bay, as the southerly storm batters the capital.
Swell lines charging across the open sea have left passengers crossing New Zealand's Cook Strait grasping for something steady to keep them upright.
Video of the treacherous crossing shows the ferry Interislander crashing through walls of water whipped up by three days of storms.
Passenger Nathan Pilcher told stuff.co.uk it was like a 90-minute rollercoaster.
"Everyone was sitting on the floor, holding on, sitting down with vomit bags and people were lying down in the toilets," he said.
Pilcher said the lengthy journey was made even worse by the nagging "smell of vomit".
On Wednesday, the Kaliarahi ferry was close to running out of vomit bags when the vessel battled seven-metre-high swells.
The high seas were caused by winds as strong as 167kph.
The storms have also caused havoc on land with snow falling across both North and South Islands.
After the South Island bore the brunt of the wild weather earlier in the week, the low-pressure system moved to the north, MetService meteorologist Mark Todd said.
He added that snow was falling in areas as low as 300m in some areas.
The wild weather has trapped more than 400 people in ski lodges around Mount Ruapehu on the North Island.
The dumping turned the area into a winter wonderland and fresh supplies of food and essentials were brought to Whakapapa Village by two heavy trucks with snow ploughs clearing a route.
Elsewhere, trapped motorists were rescued by the army as roads became snow blocked and power was cut to hundreds of homes.
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