UPOKONGARO PUNT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 205, 31 August 1932, Page 6

UPOKONGARO PUNT

SEVEN-MILE JOURNEY FLOOD BREAKS OVERHEAD WIRE EARLY IMPORTANCE RECALLED After over 20 years’ service the ferry punt at Upokongaro broke away from its moorings on Sunday night and floated seven miles down the* river, past the three Wanganui bridges, to pile up on the river shore some distance below Braeburn Hotel. It is prot umed that the ferry drifted out to midstream and that the weight of the timber and debris brought, down by the, swollen river caused the overhead wiro to break, thereby releasing the pur.:. Mr T. Dix, engineer of the Waitotai a County’ Council, stated to the “Chronicle” yesterday that there was a possibility that the punt would not bo replaced at Upokongaro, adding that the matter would have to be considered by the Wanganui and the Wnitotara County Councils. The Upokongaro punt is a link with the days of early settlement in the Wanganui district. For nearly 60 years there has boon a ferry of some kind at that point, and, in the early days when Upokongaro was a flourishing town and the surrounding country was being opened up, as much as £l5O was paid for the privilege of working it. It was at Upokongaro that the settlers bought their stores, with the result that the ferry, acting as a connecting link for the two counties, was of much importance. The mail coach from Wanganui paid a daily visit, going to the settlement by way of the Wanganui County road and returning on the other side of the river. Horses, cattle and sheep were all transported on the ferry. In addition to a European settlement there were also a large number of Maoris, who received their ■ foodstuffs from up-river and at times up to 100 canoes were to be seen moored to the riverside. A Native Land Court was built and to-day is utilised as the Upokongaro Hall. “Everybody centred at Upokongaro in those days,” said Mr Donald Ross, when giving these details to the “Chronicle” last evening. Mr Ross says that he cannot remember another punt being carried away during the past 40 years although he says that the one which came adri/t on Sunday Lad been repaired from time to time. It was built of jarrah and kauri by Messrs Walpole and Darlington, over 20 years ago, and was designed by Mr A. Mannington, clerk and engineer to the county. The days of bustling early settlement have long since passed. Good roads, motor-cars and motor-lorries have replaced the old tracks, horses, carts and pack-horses, and the use for ,the punt had diminished of late years. On the Molyneux River in Otago there are several punts of a similar design dotted at different points up its roaches, but there arc no bridges to take their places in that locality, and the punts play an important part in the life of the various settlements.