Sonya Rockhouse, who lost her 21-year-old son Ben in the 2010 disaster, is celebrating this morning after recovery teams yesterday went beyond the mine's 170-metre seal for the first time.
Yesterday's progress was the furthest anyone has been into the mine since the disaster which killed 29 men, and Ms Rockhouse has been among the most vocal advocates of re-entry.
Speaking this morning to TVNZ1's Breakfast programme, Ms Rockhouse said she never thought she would see the day come when teams were actually making progress on re-entry.
"When we were driving up there yesterday and driving past all the crosses it just felt so strange and so odd," Ms Rockhouse said.
"Whoever would have known all those years ago that this day was ever going to come? I had a big grin on my face."
Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse say they were unprepared for the emotion of seeing the mine entered again.
After fighting for re-entry and against sealing the mine for the better part of a decade, including barricading concrete trucks which were on their way to the mine to seal it, Ms Rockhouse was humble about her motivations.
"I feel like we have only done what anybody would do in the same situation," she said.
"It was an injustice and I hate injustice and I just couldn't let it go."
Ms Rockhouse also made reference to former Prime Minister John Key, who strongly argued against re-entry, calling it "lunacy".
"I hope John Key is watching and thinking, 'I made a big mistake back then'," Ms Rockhouse said.
Watch the full interview above.
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