A slip on Sunday night blocked SH25A in the Coromandel. NZTA and contractors on Monday were dropping water from a helicopter to remove loose debris at the top of the slip before starting work with diggers.

A Tairua resident was expecting the large slip that's blocking State Highway 25A.

The slip blocked the Coromandel Peninsula's Kopu-Hikuai Road at 7pm on Sunday and police said it won't be cleared for at least four days.

The approximately 50-metre slip on the Kopu-Hikuai Rd closed both lanes, though police said one lane might reopen before Thursday.

TOM LEE/STUFF The slip occurred near Kitahi Road, close to the summit.

The slip occurred just east of the waterfall near the summit. Diversions are in place at the intersection with SH25 in Kopu, and at the Whangamata/Tairua intersection with SH25.

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Engineers working on the site advised that the slip can't be cleared until unstable material is sluiced away by helicopter, action that was under way on Monday afternoon.

TOM LEE/STUFF NZTA and contractors used a helicopter to sluice loose debris from the hillside.

NZTA was due to reassess the situation on Tuesday morning with the aim of opening one lane of the road under stop-go management. However, long delays can be expected.

Tairua Pepe Cafe and Restaurant owner Sandra Morris said there had been a lot of slips around the area recently.

"It's pretty unstable up there. It appears to have been unstable for months," she said.

Tom Lee / STUFF A slip blocks SH25A, Kopu-Hikuai Road on the Coromandel Peninsula. It is expected to remain closed until at least Thursday.

"We've been waiting for it to come down."

She wasn't concerned about driving on the road, the main arterial route across the peninsula.

"I've been driving these roads for 33 years and it's just part and parcel of what happens.

GOOGLE MAPS The slip occurred on Kitahi Road but has blocked SH25A.

"The thing that concerns me more than the actual slips is the road conditions, the road surface, which hasn't been helped by the endless wet weather.

"There are huge numbers of potholes and large areas of slick tar, which I think is a big problem."

Morris said road closures affect business and are an inconvenience, since deliveries for her cafe are delayed.

"We're okay with it, it's not like we're totally cut off. It's probably better that they do a good job of cleaning it up so that it doesn't happen again.

"People just have to prepare for a longer journey. It's inconvenient but it's not the end of the world and we will manage."

The school bus to Tairua and Pauanui was cancelled on Monday but expected to be running again on Tuesday.

Murphy Bus spokeswoman Mariah Ellis said Tairua and Pauanui schoolchildren would have to take a two-hour bus ride to Thames High School on July 24.

The bus company also runs the Intercity bus between Thames and Whitianga, which was diverted through the gravelled and windy Tapu-Coroglen Road on Monday morning and cancelled on Monday afternoon.