After many years of suffering with a one-lane bridge, Taipa now has a brand new two-lane, architecturally-designed art installation (which happens to do the same job that a bridge would do). It needs a cache to draw people to stop and admire the workmanship.
"The bridge represents a traditional double hulled waka and has a great deal of meaning for local iwi. The pou (carved pole) and the colourful carved insets on the waka prows at each on of the bridge are now uncovered for everyone to enjoy. This is much more than a bridge. The new bridge is a cultural and recreational experience which everyone can enjoy." (Doubtless Bay Facebook)
According to Māori, the first explorer to reach New Zealand was Kupe. Using the stars and ocean currents as his navigational guides, he ventured across the Pacific on his waka hourua (voyaging canoe) from his ancestral Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki. Taipa is well-known as his first stop, around 1000AD, ahead of the Great Migration that brought the Maori between 1300 and 1500AD.
Maori have lived in and around Taipa for many generations. With its proximity to the Peria Valley with its rich market soils, quick access to the sea and the availability of seafood in the Taipa River it was an ideal place to settle. It was also jealously covetted by other tribes, so there have been battles fought over the land and its resources many times over the years. The current tribe to call it home is Ngati Kahu.
Before the end of the 19th Century a ribbon road existed along the coast from Mangonui to Taipa, but with the need to move stock and supplies to and from the Peria and Oruru Valleys a bridge was vital. Taipa was chosen, and tenders called for by the Mangonui County Council on 30 June 1899. The £400 bid by Mr J.T.Gillibrand was accepted, and it would be 7'6" wide and 660' long - said to be the longest bridge north of Auckland at that time. Messrs Wilkinson and Garton won the contract for the approaches at 5 guineas. This bridge was 100m south of the current site (near the now-defunct quarry), but it was sadly lost to a flood in 1917. Local legend has it that a central portion was recovered on 90 Mile Beach, having survived the wild seas around North Cape.
Presumably it was repaired, but a replacement, again single lane, was erected in 1940 on the now current site, at the increased cost of £4500. This appears to be a war-time move to improve communications in the North, presumably to assist transport from the wharf in Mangonui to the Waipapakauri airfield and Kaitaia. It had a footpath tacked on in 1987 (materials from the demolition of Oruru's Nielsen's Bridge) and it operated until 2019. (Information from 'MANGONUI - Gateway to the Far North', Neva Clarke McKenna)
The new and third Taipa bridge was officially opened early on the morning of Monday 2 December 2019, and a series of cultural events took place in celebration.
The cache has site-appropriate camo applied, but most cachers should spot it easily enough. You do not need to go onto the road, and please DO NOT PARK at GZ - there are parking areas at both ends - so be safe, park carefully off the road, and enjoy the walk along and across the new structure. Be careful of muggles. Bring your own pencil.