Crossing the Tairua River, Coromandel Peninsula

Damaged ford across the Tairua River Puketui Valley - photo courtesy Chris Ball 2009

Part of our past New Zealand history was river crossings - no less so the Tairua River and its four branches. Back in the mid 1800's gold, timber and gum extraction was growing fast. Typical of New Zealand rural bush and bush and bush ranges of the Coromandel Peninsula, there were no bridges across  With heavy rainfall, the waters of creeks and rivers would rise fast, becoming a real hazard for accident or drowning. 

On the Eastern Seaboard roads were non existance. Back in the early 1870s, was one enterprising William Benjamin  Jackson - manager of the Tairua Sawmill, Chairman of directors Tairua Goldmining Company, gum merchant, gum store keeper, postmaster Tairua 1872 - 1877, holder of Tairua bush liquor licence 1872,owner of 212 acre Pepe Block purchased from Maori owners 1871, shipper and ships master of the cutter Coralie and owner of the cutter Tairua, the schooner Firefly, yacht Starlight and short term owner of the fore and aft schooner Belle Brandon.

Jackson opened up tracks, using pack horses to transport goods and provisions across the rugged ranges to the bush camps of the Tairua Valley and goldmines newly opened up the Neavesville and used the coastal shipping route to bring provisions to Tairua and what became known as the upper landing, from the Port of Auckland. 

Showing a man on horseback below a pinnacle rock near Neavesville, Thames District
Taken from the supplement to the Auckland Weekly News 22 JANUARY 1914 p053
                                     photo courtesy  Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19140122-53-3                                                                                                                                                                                               

May 1875, the Auckland Star reported:-

 "Mr Jackson of Tairua  is cutting a good horse track from his store to the upper camp, which will be completed in a few days. He is reported to have 10 packhorses on the road conveying stores from his Tairua to his upper store"  ( Auckland Star, 03/05/1875,p2)

The multi crossings of the Tairua River and its branches were not the only hazard. Pack horse operators reported high cliffs a risk, the tracks  and their pack horses being killed through falls. The Thames Star reported one such incident, with a loss of animal to a Mr. Gallagher, in July 1875  The Thames Star wrote:-

 "Another horse has come to grief over a cliff. To-day a valuable animrl belonging to Mr Gallagher fell over a cliff several hundred feet high and was killed. A few more such accidents and packing to Tairua will not be looked upon as a very remunerative speculation."  ( Thames Star 08/05/1875)

Horses in the Auckland Province of 1875 were essential for transport and cartage of goods. THE OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF NEW ZEALAND 1875 wrote on the cost of horses:- 
" A good four-year-old horse can be bought for £20, and a very good serviceable horse can be bought for half that sum, and even for less money" 
( On URL Statistics NZ  )  Some horses could fetch up to £30 -  real price in 2019 realative worth - £2,776.00. Definitely why the newspaper's comment on packing to Tairua.

Mick Lennan - an old Hikuai resident also wrote about one Joe Dufty, who was said to have thirty horses and packed food to the many gum diggers  and bushman of the Kauri Timber Co. of the Tairua Valley. ( Ohinemuri Journal , Oct 1967)

Fifty six years on from 1875,   those pack tracks were still being used and not much better than 1875.  Returning to Hikuai at third branch of the Tairua river, Stanley John Morrison was thrown from the pack horse and dragged for distance . His left leg was caught in one of pack saddle hooks and badly injured.

In 1931, there was still no road over the Kopu Hikuai highway. That came much later when it opened on 23 March 1967.


Reference Source:

• By MICK LENNAN  Hikuai Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 8, October 1967
• Measuring Worth

• Thames Star 8 May 1875 Page 2
• Thames Star  6 July 1875  Page 2
• Thames Star 18 Sep 1931 Pg 3
• Auckland Star 19 Sep 1931 Pg 8

Bridges, footbridges and fording Rivers and Creeks Tairua Valley

Pepe Bridge with Pepe footbridge  across Pepe Estuary Outlet  June 2019 - Photo courtesy  Chris Ball

Known as Pepe Bridge, Tairua this is one of three well known one way bridges in the Tairua Valley crossing streams aka tributaries ,  which lead into the main Tairua River. Pepe bridge at the outlet  into Tairua of the Pepe estuary, Hikuai bridge across the Hikuai Stream and Graham's Creek bridge across Graham's Creek on SH25 - just before the winding road upwards past Te Karo ( Sailors grave ) road entry.

The Tairua River with four branches itself, winds down the Tairua Valley. From the river's source , just south of the area known as the wires,   to the sea and harbour mouth between Paku maunga and the sandspit of Pauanui. Throughout settlement of this valley, from iwi, to early gum digging, gold mining and kauri logging, a way across the Tairua River, its branches and tributaries was sought. 

The Auckland Star writing about  a tour of shareholders and directors, travelling from Tairua Landing, to Golden Belt battery at Neavesville in 1906, reported  that:

" The river had to be  forded eleven times before the Golden Belt  battery was reached"  

Drawn by C. L. Kerry. NEAVESVILLE, SHOWING THE BLOW FROM WHICH GOLD WAS TAKEN.

Photo Courtesy Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-18960530-620-2

The early days of the Tairua Broken Hills Gold Mining Company, before bridges were constructed , necessitated other methods to cross the Tairua river with all that heavy machinery and equipment, Below a team of bullocks fording the river in 1899. 



FORDING THE TAIRUA ON THE ROAD TO THE BROKEN HILL MINE, THAMES.

Photo courtesy  Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-18991104-828-1  Taken from the New Zealand Graphic, 4 November, 1899, p828

Fording not so for crossing the outlet of the Pepe Estuary in 1899. Back in the early 1880's, it is said that the mill hands of the then Union Sash and Door mill, on the shores of the Tairua harbour and river, constructed a footbridge.


Local folklore for our modern day times in the 21st Century has it and also written by NZ Herald in 2014,  that a good swim is jumping off the Pepe footbridge into the water -  at high tide of course.

Reference Source:

• E.D. Havill ( Bill) Mining Venture at Neavesville Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 19, June 1975
• Auckland Star 25 April 1906 Page 9
• NZ Herald 24 January 2014

ANZAC DAY NZ 2020

They shall not grow old

As we that are left grow old;

At the going down of the sun

and in the morning

We will remember them.

25 April 2020 - this was the first ANZAC Day since the first observed  back in 1916 in New Zealand,  that was not observed as in the 104 years before. That was the ceremonies and gatherings at RSA ( Returned Service Association) clubs and other clubs around the country. 

New Zealand on 25 April 2020 was still in lock down, Level 4 because of the world wide COVID 19 Pandemic. At home -  for all of us in New Zealand, except those working in essential services - people in Supermarkets, truck drivers, emergency services, medical staff, care givers in rest homes, farmers, food growers and other groups.

A new way for observing ANZAC Day and remembering members of our family. Some, whose lives were sacrificed during  the wars since the South African or Boer War. World War One saw 18,500 lives lost by New Zealanders. Our soldiers returning to New Zealand in 1918 entered and with them, another influenza pandemic - what was named the Spanish Flu.

Our National  RSA asked that we observe ANZAC Day by gathering in our " bubble" by our gateway or driveway at 6 am dawn. Where we could hear on the radio the last post being played and have a time of reflection for our own.

This year there were not the gatherings in our community halls at Whangamata, Hikuai, Tairua and Whenuakite, nor Pauanui Club. There was no marching up our main streets, nor gathering together, after  laying of wreaths ceremonies for a good old community get-together. A good old - "chin wag" remembering those 

who fought in those wars. 

However there was a new way of remembrance and observing. Poppies - made  from red shopping bags appeared on gateways, walk ways to the sea. Small poppies kept from previous years ( the RSA has done many Welfare activities as a result of Poppie Day - when one could donate money for a poppie)

Small poppies found their way into peoples windows facing the streets to join teddy bears of all shapes, sizes and colours placed in our communities windows for a " Bear Hunt. "

Yes - we will remember them and 25 April 2020 will go down in our memories as the year of COVID 19 when we did not forget to remember them.