Source: Department of Conservation
Date: 27 November 2024
Kākāwera/Torrent River bridge was blessed by Te Ati Awa, Ngāti Rārua and Ngāti Tama kaumatua last week, formally closing off a project more than two years in the making.
The previous bridge, part of the Great Walk leg between the Anchorage and Torrent Bay, was left unusable by a slip during heavy rainfall in August 2022.
While the track was re-opened quite quickly, with no bridge in place walkers were left to use a route across the bay – if they correctly timed it to be there two hours either side of low tide.
Motueka Operations Manager Mark Townsend said a new bridge was always the only option.
“Clearly having people only able to complete that link around low tide was far from ideal, and there was always the risk someone would push their limits and wind up in deep water – literally.”
It was also less than satisfactory for tourism business operators needing to offer customers a reliable link between huts or other points on the track.
Planning for the new bridge and a start on the build got underway with a blessing in August 2023.
But then it ran into problems beyond the Department’s control.
“We needed special wire rope for the job which we sourced from Indonesia. Unfortunately, it then promptly got tangled in a port workers’ dispute in Jakarta and went no further for months and months,” Mark says.
Eventually, the dispute resolved and the shipment finally continued to NZ.
“We got the ropes in the last week of October and the job was complete for the first walkers to use on 5 November.”
With the new bridge now in place, access to Cleopatra’s Pool – a natural rock pool with a moss-lined waterslide – is also re-opened.
“It’s one of the walk’s highlight attractions so we’re pleased the construction is completed and that track can be re-opened for visitors’ enjoyment.
“But I think the Kākāwera bridge also stacks up as a new highlight of the Great Walk, and having the dry feet link from Anchorage to Torrent Bay restored is worth every one of the $320,000 it cost to get it,” Mark says.
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