Ūpokongaro, like many old settlements around the country, has a historic hotel, but unlike many of them, Ūpokongaro's pub is still running.
"It's operated as a hotel since the late 1800s," said Pat Tasker.
"The community rely on the hotel to be fair. We get really good support from the
local community around, just the farmers and the pā up at Kaiwhaiki."
And that community is about to grow with the addition of the new cycle bridge. The bridge connects both sides of the river for the first time since 1935 when there was a punt operated by a wire pulley.
"The bridge is just going to add a new dynamic to us across the river," Tasker said. "There's another little community, Papaiti there. We'll open the hotel up for that group.
