160 Wharf Road, Tolaga Bay-Tokomaru Bay, Gisborne

Tolaga Bay and its Wharf

Gisborne Walks

Sea transport's importance to East Coast communities before good roads is illustrated by the 100 metre wharf connected to the shore by a 500 metre jetty which was visited by 133 ships in 1936. Over the years the wharf's concrete piles deteriorated as salt in the aggregate used attacked the steel reinforcing and in 1977 vehicles were banned from the wharf. In 1999 the Tolaga Bay Save the Wharf Charitable Trust was set up to raise funds for restoration. In a major effort for a small community $5.5 million was raised. The opening of the restored wharf was celebrated in June 2012 coincident with celebrations to mark the Transit of Venus. (Captain Cook's South Seas expedition aboard the HMS Endeavour in 1769 was to observe the transit of Venus for the Royal Society. He did this in Tahiti before making landfall in New Zealand) At the north end of the bay, over the Uawa river there is a gently shelving beach patrolled by a surf life saving club. Maori culture is strong here; there are four marae in the Bay. There is a camping ground at the south end near the wharf while at the north end there are three areas set aside for freedom camping. The Ernest Reeve Walkway is at the northern end of Tolaga Bay. It is a steep stepped climb of some 200m to the lookout. Just to the south of the wharf is the start of the Cooks Cove walkway. (see separate entry)

**A pier without peer **

A drive around East Cape will reveal the crumbling remains of three massive piers, at Tolaga, Tokomaru and Hick’s Bays. They are remarkably close together — Tolaga, the southernmost, is just a shade over 50 kilometres from the city of Gisborne and less than 40 kilometres from Tokomaru — and they are relatively recent, 20th-century structures. Yet before modern sealed roads, road transport was impractical and the huge piers were vital lifelines. Out went meat, wool and livestock and in came cased petrol, kegs of beer and general merchandise. Earlier in the 20th century farmers erected a small wharf in the mouth of the Uawa River to load cargo into lighters servicing ships anchored in the bay. It had silted up by the end of World War I when moves to establish a local freezing works and reluctance to pay rates for Gisborne’s harbour works revived local interest in a port of their own. Marine engineer Cyrus Williams drew plans for a 100-metre wharf connected to the shore by a 500- metre jetty. Although he estimated that it would cost a staggering £60,000, the tiny community approved a £100,000 loan, raised £70,000 and gave Fred Goodman the contract. Work started in January 1926 and soon confirmed the doubters’ misgivings. They had to shift the approachway after construction began and the final wharf offered just 5.2 metres depth instead of the 6.4 metres expected. In 1928 storm damage forced the harbour board to borrow £20,000 more. Nevertheless, everyone smiled on 22 November 1929 when the Minister of Marine turned up to open the wharf. The farmer-owned firm Geo H Scales broke ranks with the Conference Lines and loaded direct from Tolaga Bay, sending its ‘Conference buster’ Bencruachan there in December to tranship from coasters. In 1936, 133 ships worked the port. But that was the high point. Scales sent more ships there until wartime centralisation ended calls from the big ‘Home boats’. After the war only coasters called there, and too few of them to maintain the deteriorating ferro-cement piles. Richardson’s Kopara made the last call in 1967, by which time the harbour board had been wound up. Now only small fishing boats, recreational craft and pedestrians use the wharf, although locals hope to preserve what they call the longest wharf in the southern hemisphere.

© 2002 Original text – Gavin McLean.

Further reading: John O’C Ross, Pride in Their Ports, Dunmore Press, Palmerston North, 1977.

Image Credit:Koenraad Kuiper

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