Historic Hawke's Bay: Bumpy ride to Waimarama Beach

The Waimarama Rd undergoing roadworks. Credit: Hawke's Bay Knowledge Bank Wilson Collection T2267

Waimarama is one of Hawke's Bay's most popular beach locations in summer. The road to get there, however, was not so smooth in its earliest days.

The first important link to Waimarama was the building of bridge over the Tukituki River in January 1904. Before that it had to be forded (crossed at a shallow point).

Dick Seddon, the premier (prime minister) of New Zealand, attended in 1906 the wedding at Waimarama of Miss Tiana Karauria and Tu Teira. Accompanied by Mr G P Donnelly, whose niece was the bride, they made their way along the beach from Ocean Beach to Waimarama, leaving at 8am to avoid the incoming tide.

At that point the road to Waimarama had not been completed. (The wedding couple and guests endured a two hour speech from Seddon which focused on political matters after briefly wishing the bride well.)

In January 1909 it was reported that 10 Hastings families were camping under canvas at the "health giving resort" at Waimarama Beach after owner Airini Donnelly (wife of G P Donnelly) had given permission for the campers to pitch tents on foreshore.

The Hastings Standard reported that the road was in good order for cycling and the journey to this health resort could be undertaken in two hours from Hastings.

G P Donnelly was a Hawke's Bay County councillor and he requested to his council in 1911 that the road to Waimarama be completed.

In 1910, a road to Maraetotara had been built for 10 miles (16km) from the Havelock Rd on the east side of the bridge.

The Hawke's Bay County Council agreed to fund the Waimarama Rd completion. The Public Works Department would continue the road from the 10 mile peg towards the sea, to which the Hastings Standard said would "give improved access to the famous Waimarama Beach".

Over the years since, the road – which was not sealed for decades, needed significant work done to it, not to mention adverse weather events which caused many slips on the road.

In 1969 a ratepayer wrote to the Hawke's Bay County Council:

"I have been a resident here since 1911 and in my opinion this road considering the amount of traffic it is now carrying and expected to carry during the coming years is in the worst and most dangerous condition it has ever been. When this road was first sealed it carried a 3-1 subsidy for the sealing, under certain conditions, and the improvement to the road meant a vast increased amount of outside holiday traffic to the very popular Ocean and Waimarama beaches.

"Your staff are doing a good job in mowing the grass on the roadsides, cutting back trees on blind corners and patching and filling pot holes to the best of their ability but the road is dangerous.

"The parts that have been resurfaced encourage speed and other sections, with what is left of the original seal mixed with batches, pot holes and broken verges, is little better than a one-way surface unless the driver travels slowly, sticks strictly to his side and takes the rough with the smooth."

In 1989, local government reorganisation meant that the newly formed Hastings District Council took responsibility for the road from the Hawke's Bay County Council.

The Waimarama rRd runs through unstable clays and bentonites (absorbent type of clay, usually formed from volcanic ash) making construction and reconstruction difficult.

* Limited, signed copies of Michael Fowler's Historic Hawke's Bay book are available from the Hastings Community Art Centre, Russell Street South, Hastings for $65.00

* Michael Fowler is taking Art Deco and 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake tours around the Hastings CBD during Art Deco Festival from February 13 to 16. Book at online iticket or the Art Deco Centre in Tennyson St.