Rissington Community Board member Bronwyn Farquharson with the now complete Anzac sculpture made from an iconic 120-year-old redwood. Photo / Paul Taylor
Two Anzac soldiers now stand proud over Rissington as the scaffolding surrounding the poignant sculpture has come down.
The journey from a 120-year old 40-metre redwood suffering from dieback to its final form depicting twosolemn soldiers standing back to back in a position of mourning has been emotional for those involved.
Hastings District Council had earlier deemed that the iconic tree had to be removed from the intersection of Puketitiri Rd and Soldiers' Settlement Rd due to the risk of falling onto the road.
The community did not want to see the tree go and the Rissington Community Board had the idea to preserve its legacy by turning it into an Anzac sculpture.
Carver Chris Elliott said his first feeling was a sense of relief at getting the job done as he finished the main part of the largest carving he has ever worked on.
"I am pretty pleased actually. It was difficult to see the whole thing because of all the scaffolding, but I think it has come out better than I anticipated."
Carving work was able to begin at the start of the year and he estimates about four and a half months of work went into the piece, a process which was made lengthier by the sad passing of master carver Hugh Tareha in May, who was working together with him.
"That really knocked me around, he was my best mate," Elliott said.
"I had a sense that he was still standing over my shoulder and pointing things out."
Elliott said he appreciated some of the less obvious details of the sculpture, such as the fact that the Australian soldier faces about where Sydney is, while the Kiwi soldier faces towards Napier.
Rissington Community Board member Bronwyn Farquharson said she was proud of what had been achieved and the sculpture was generating a lot of interest.
She said some of the highlights of the process had been the generosity of the sponsors involved, who had given time and raised about $30,000 to fund the carving.
"The money took a lot of hard work to raise, but at the same time the money people came up with just blew us away."
She said the sculpture was extra special and historic because it was master carver Tareha's last carving.
She said interest in Rissington's most recent Anzac celebration had reached new highs because of the attraction generated by the sculpture.
"I've reconnected with so many people down there and Chris I know sometimes has trouble getting work in because he is so busy talking to everybody that stops," she said.
"All the truckies will toot and wave, it has just been amazing how people are appreciating it."
Rissington Community Board member Ruth Dawson said it had been a struggle for a couple of years since they had the idea for the sculpture, but they had been very lucky with the donations of time, tools and money.
"Really sad Hugh wasn't here to see the completion of it, but I think he would be really happy with it."
She said the sculpture couldn't be properly appreciated until the scaffolding was taken away.
"It has just blown me away, it is so much better than I could have imagined it could be."
She said all that was left for the sculpture was some tidying up, planting and signage around it before the commemorations on Armistice Day on November 11.