Gisborne’s 1000-Year Bridge offers vision ‘revered by our tīpuna‘

Gisborne's 1000 Year Bridge is effectively completed with the exception of "finishing touches" but is not yet open to the public. Photo / Wynsley Wrigley

Those excited by the prospect of walking across Gisborne’s 1000-Year Bridge will have to wait a little longer.

The bridge, in the shape of a waka, looks completed and a Gisborne District Council spokesperson has confirmed it is effectively completed, but entry to it is prevented by fencing and a sign which says “Construction Zone, No Entry”.

The council spokesperson said: “We are still in discussions with Ngāti Oneone regarding finishing touches and the next stage. This includes finalising plans for a formal opening.”

The bridge would not be opened for use before then.

Mayor Rehette Stoltz confirmed contractors were waiting for some parts to complete the project.

Ngāti Oneone artist and carver Nick Tupara said the bridge looked “reasonably finished”.

“But like most things, there’s always something.”

The bridge was originally scheduled to be completed in 2019 for the Tuia 250 commemorations.

Tupara said there had been plans for a bridge to be part of the Puhi Kai Iti/Cook Landing site complex.

The bridge is a joint project between Ngāti Oneone and Gisborne District Council.

Ngāti Oneone, as mana whenua, have stories that will be told on the bridge and are expected to announce its official name at the opening ceremony.

The bridge incorporates a laser-cut tau ihu (prow board) and taurapa (stern post) with traditional artwork by Tupara.

“The primary kaupapa underpinning my approach to creating the whakairo offerings for our waka bridge was the name Wai Kāhua,” said Tupara.

Wai Kāhua was not a reference to a physical location, but the sight from the bridge, he said.

“Titirangi, where the bridge’s taurapa connects, carries profound cultural and historical significance. Wai Kāhua refers to the view shaft, a pivotal cone of vision revered by our tīpuna.

“From this vantage point, they observed the ocean’s shifting moods, the interplay of weather against the horizon and the character of the river as it flows out to meet the sea.

“These observations guided their decisions and interactions with the taiao, sustaining the practices of their ancestors over a millennium.

“It allows us to reflect on where we’ve been – that 1000 years of history that ties us to this district – the navigation tradition.”

The observations would have included the arrival of James Cook and contemporary marine activities.

“The bridge offers us the opportunity to once again look outward, across its tau ihu – beyond the port’s land reclamations and log storage – through this ancestral visionary cone,” Tupara said.

“It calls upon us to remember the teachings of our tīpuna, reflect on their enduring legacy, and contemplate the aspirations and possibilities for our community’s future.”

Councillors were told late last year that the bridge was “set to be physically completed” by December 12 and it was “the little fiddly things that are holding everything up”.

Gisborne's 1000-Year Bridge connects Tītīrangi/Kaiti Hill and Puhi Kai Iti/Cook Landing site and offers views, previously blocked by the development of the port, of where navigators on waka, canoes and ships arrived in the rohe over many centuries. Photo / Wynsley Wrigley

The bridge is externally funded with a Lotteries Grant of $3.1 million ($2.68m for the bridge and $389,000 for the Te Maro viewing platform), and a Trust Tairāwhiti grant of $343,000.

The open-air pedestrian bridge stands 6.3 metres above Kaiti Beach Rd and is shaped and carved to look like a waka.