Digital art on Federal Street

Spotted this today on Federal Street -- a digital mural by Osmand Signs.

"The building’s owner loves it so much he’s asked them to leave it up, and Osmand Signs have already had enquiries from other landlords in the area looking to jazz up their old bricks," according to the website link. Originally, it was only meant to be a temporary piece of colour for a Samsung commercial.

I think it looks superb. Certainly caught my eye today! And so close to St Patrick's Cathedral on the other side of Wyndham Street -- couldn't ask for a more fitting location.

A Matter of Convenience: a report

I've just put a report on the toilets at 50A Rosebank Road on Scribd -- A Matter of Convenience.

A bank re-used

The Writer of the Purple Sage popped across on the clacks today with these images:

Out with camera on Sunday last, I shot this cute building at 366 Gt. South Road, Greenlane, just beside the Green Lane East intersection. No sign to tell me what it was, nor anything in the masonery to say what it had once been... Saw on the door that it is the registered office of Lloyd's Shipping! I thought, if you haven't already written about this, maybe there's a story for you...? Just a thought.

The masonry actually does say what the building was, although not in letters and numbers. This was an Auckland Savings Bank, Greenlane branch, opened 31 October 1934, according to my records, and designed by Daniel Boys Patterson, the ASB's architect at the time, right through almost to his death later in the century. He was still designing banks for them in the '60s.

When Papers Past takes the Auckland Star down towards 1945 later on, we might be able to see if there was much hoop-la with a grand opening and bands and bunting and happy depositors and such. Or not.

The bank sold it in 1996, as they did with so many others around the Auckland region. Now, as The Writer says, one of the tenants is Lloyds Shipping Ltd.

How about a plaque for old Mangere Bridge?

In 2015, the old (second) Mangere Bridge turns 100. Could anyone in the Auckland Council please consider taking up the idea of an interpretive plaque -- even if just a bit of board tacked to a fence so we can still save rates monies in this time of belt-tightening -- to commemorate how important this was to Mangere and Onehunga?

Mangere Bridge No. 1 (1875-1915)

COMPLETION OF MANGERE BRIDGE.

...The Onehunga bridge is rapidly approaching completion. A little more nailing and tarring of the timbers and the job will be done. All the celebrities in our town are discussing as to how the bridge should be opened. And what preparations, what ceremonies, and what amount of eating, drinking, and speechifying are necessary to be had upon so great an occasion. At the opening of the railway from Auckland to Onehunga the people of Onehunga were only regaled with a smell of the viands at host Sullivan's when the dignitaries of the province celebrated the event. On that occasion, the people of Onehunga were of poor account with the magnates provincial. On the forthcoming event our local dignitaries are determined, if they can, to assert themselves, no matter what amount of cold water may be thrown upon their efforts to the contrary notwithstanding.

Dr. Purchas has been scratching his head and looking awful things in an homeopathical way, and suggests a picnic. Gillman, the chemist, with a knowing look, is agreeable to a picnic, with the addition of a dinner. Everybody says that Capt. Wing, our harbour master, should look after the flags, as he knows how to tackle the bunting. Captain Symonds, it is reported, is agreeable to assent to anything that is pleasant, and will shout with the biggest side. Mr Jackson, our man of all work, has his pen in the ink ready to draw up any amount of resolutions that any collection of wiseheads may agree upon, that the affair may go off with all due decorum. Little Waller, the timber man, is ready to charter his little steamer the Tam 'o Shanter to run up and down the Manukau, so that everybody that likes may see how the bridge looks from a watery point of view. If there should be a dinner, O'Rorke our member to the G. A. must have his speech on the occasion. By the by, when will O'Rorke's speech come off (about) the Vogel business. I suppose we must give up all hopes of that speech now, because of the little affair of the bridge. To have to make two speeches within six months, will be too much for his nerves. If Mr O'Rorke should fail us in speechmaking, there's one man in the place that will make up for any deficiencies. Our host Hardington, of the Manukau, is ready and willing to make everybody jolly, and will have a small escort of cavalry paraded on the occasion (if allowed).

Major Gordon would have let the late Volunteers, had they been alive to fire a salute in honor of the affair, but the minds of our Volunteer soldiers having been poisoned by John Lundon, they have all become defunct, in consequence of taking in too much of Lundon's deleterious nonsense. Never mind, the Templars—as this is a watery occasion—will come out strong, with all sorts of banners of strange device. The people of Mangare are expected to meet those of Onehunga half-way on the bridge, and exchange mutual felicitations. Our old friend Courtenay will be there, and promises to be unusually tractable. The Highway Board is very busy, and must look after the toe paths.

It has been mildly suggested that the Highway Boards on both sides the Manukau will put some soft gravel on each side of the approaches to the bridge, for the newly laid stone in the roadway are plaguey hard to walk upon in these hot days; corns will not stand it. The ladies .promise to come out strong on the occasion, and the milliners of Onehunga have more than tkey can do. Let us hope the day of opening will be a fine one. Everybody here says, "Success to the Bridge, and may Onehunga flourish !"

Auckland Star 12 January 1875, p3

"Looking south east from the railway lines east of Onehunga wharf, showing men and children standing on the railway lines, the old bridge and Mangere (background)", 1904, reference 4-3177, Sir George Grey Specual Collections,    Auckland Libraries

"Looking west over Manukau Harbour showing the old Mangere Bridge," 1913, reference 4-2525, Sir Georgew Grey Special Collections, Auckland Library

Mangere Bridge No. 2 (1915-present)

The new ferro-concrete bridge across the Manukau Harbour, connecting Onehunga and Mangere, was formally opened for traffic yesterday afternoon by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey).

The Premier congratulated the local authorities and the district upon having replaced the old bridge with so fine a structure, and dwelt at some length on the importance to the country of road and bridge facilities for the carriage of produce to the markets.

Northern Advocate 1 June 1915

"Looking south from just west of Mangere Bridge showing Mangere Mountain (right background) and the bridge (left),"    9 May 1940, reference 4-2646, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries.

Mangere Bridge No. 3 (1985-present), and beyond, No. 4 (2010-present)

According to Janice Mogford in The Onehunga Heritage (1989), local MP Hugh Watt started pressuring the Government in the 1950s for a new Mangere Bridge across the Manukau, to save on maintenance and to cater for increased traffic flows. Work finally began in April 1973, but was best by the longest running industrial dispute up to that time in New Zealand, halting construction for two and a half years. Work began again in 1979. The new bridge opened to pedestrians 19 February 1983, "the first people to walk across were, appropriately, a group of early Mangere residents who had participated in a similar event in 1915." It opened to traffic four days later.

Bridge number 4 is part of State Highway 20's enhancements as part of a ring route for the region.

I thought for a minute, when I visited Bridge No. 2, that the writing I could see on one of the metal posts at least referred to the name "Mangere Bridge". But no -- it was just tagging.

I hear from someone I know who lives in Mangere these days that the 1915 bridge is popular. People walk there. They fish there. They stand and contemplate the waters of the Manukau in all her moods, there. Something for the future, letting the generations to come know why we like the bridge today, and explaining its past, would be great.

" ...a change came o'er the spirit of the dream..": Fort Ligar, 1845-1859

 

Aerial photo 2006, Auckland Council website. Overlay is approximate layout of Fort Ligar, based on "Rediscovering Fort Ligar: Archaeology at R11/1656, Auckland", Ian Smith, Internal Report No. 40, Department of Conservation, 1989.

You've heard of the phrase about "giving them bread and circuses", or thereabouts? In the panic immediately after the sack of Kororareka in Northland in 1845, it was more "give 'em a redoubt and the shovels to dig it!" The result was the forgotten Fort Ligar, a political short-term solution to the concerns of 3,000 people, giving them something else to think about while times and nerves were strained.

In anticipation of Heki's visit to this district, we are most happy to witness the great activity of the Government in adopting measures on an extensive scale for the defence and protection of the town. The works commenced on the high ground at the back of the Court House, will be of great service: they are to be surrounded by a stone wall and deep ditch, with a Martelo (sic) tower of stone in the centre, on which will be mounted a piece of ordnance, that will embrace within its range, a considerable distance. The interior will be capable of affording shelter, in case of an attack on the town, to considerable numbers; and the militia could well defend such works from any attacks of the Natives. Another block-house is to be erected on the hill beyond Albert-street, so as to command that entrance into the town. With these and the previous defences, in addition to correct intelligence of every movement of the Natives, so as to prevent sudden surprise, we consider the Town now perfectly secure.

Southern Cross 19 April 1845

A Martello Tower would have been an interesting part of our skyline, had the plans actually gone ahead toward completion. If it had also remained, undemolished, not following the fate of Partington's Mill. It would have been dwarfed today, of course, by the Skytower just to the north on the same block, of course, but an intriguing notion, all the same.

There is an archaeological report online, entitled Rediscovering Fort Ligar: Archaeology at R11/1656, Auckland, by Ian Smith, Internal Report No. 40, Department of Conservation, 1989. It's in two parts, part 1, and part 2. (Both .pdf) In it, the archaeological  examination of a site between Federal, Wellesley, Hobson and Victoria Streets is described. At the time (1987), the site was owned by Auckland City Council, and there was a proposal to erect a Western Bus Terminal there.

Back in 1845, though, it was a mix of private land and Crown holdings. The Crown took back portions, for the purpose of the planned fortification ... but even the defensive ditches, so it seems, were never really completed. This was a still-born redoubt.

To the Editor of the New Zealander. Sir,-— Some few months back, when the cry was the "Maories are coming," all hands were set to work with great haste to erect a fortification on Albert hill. So fierce were the proceedings carried on, that the authorities could not even wait the necessary time to enquire whether they were building on their, own ground, or that of private individuals. It so turned out that the ground was private property, and the owner or owners of the particular site of which Government had taken such forcible possession, claimed compensation and insisted justly on being remunerated. It is unnecessary now to say at what price,— circumstances perhaps justified the appropriation of the land for such a purpose, although I am not one of those who will generally admit the power of the Executive to interfere with the vested rights of the owners of land. However, justice was awarded to the proprietors in this instance, and the site for the erection of Fort Ligar has again become the property of the Crown.

And what then ? Numbers of men were put on the work, and all seemed going on swimmingly. However, "a change came o'er the spirit of the dream," and this same Fort Ligar after being the pet hobby, delight, and amusement of the officials, who had planned and set it going, is suddenly dropped; the workmen are withdrawn, the incipient fortifications left to go to ruin, — and all that the citizens of Auckland and the colonists generally can comfort themselves in will be that they have spent a sum of money, to purchase land for the erection of works, which they will never see carried out, and that the annual budget will be consequently increased, to gratify the vanity of some parties who chose to begin what they had not energy enough to complete. Truly matters are queerly managed in New Zealand ! I am, Sir, Yours, &c. CIVIS.

New Zealander 26 July 1845

To the foregoing account of fortifications in various parts of the world in progress, we may add that of this colony. New Zealand —Fort Ligar — Original estimate, unknown, — and period of completion, as well as amount of expense, uncertain.

New Zealander 16 August 1845

From the Smith report:

The irregular U-shaped profiles and relatively shallow depths recorded here suggest that digging of the Fort Ligar ditch was never completed …

Confirmation of these inferences was subsequently found in two documents amongst the Colonial Secretaries Inward Correspondence (1A 1/45 - 1829) held in the National Archives, Wellington. The first was a note from Governor Fitzroy to Dr Sinclair, the Colonial Secretary, dated 29 October 1845, requesting the Superintendent of Works "to estimate the expense of completing the earthwork of Fort Ligar". The second, dated the following day, outlines the work needing to be done. This involved completing formation of the embankment and glacies (a smooth slope leading up to the defenses) using "surplus earth to be dug from the ditch", cutting a drain to let off water from the ditch, and cutting clover turf to face the embankment. Fred Thatcher, Superintendent of Works, estimated that this would require the employment of 10 men for 117 days. Along with the construction of a drawbridge and gate the total cost was estimated at £102.16.8. This report was annotated the following day by Fitzroy with the words "To lie over", presumably indicating that the work was not to proceed, at least until his replacement, George Grey, assumed office the following month. No evidence has been found that the new Governor ordered completion of the work.

"Looking west from the vicinity of Princes Street and Bowen Avenue showing Kitchener Street, (left to right), Courthouse Lane, (centre), Methodist Church, Mechanics Institute, (right), Victoria Street West (centre left), Wyndham Street (far right) and St Patrick's Cathedral (extreme right)", reference 4/1040, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

Detail from above image, showing where the report team believe that Fort Ligar was located.

Just about the only times Fort Ligar was mentioned as part of Auckland's lively fabric was either as a handy navigation landmark, there on the other now-unknown place name of Albert Hill, indicating to readers of advertisements just where sites were for sale, "near Fort Ligar"; and as part of a mini-controversy over Frederick Whitaker and his Kawau Island land.

THE KAWAU BUSINESS.
To the Editor of the Southern Cross. Sir,— Mr. Whitaker stated on the hustings— "This Kawau business had been made a political matter, but it was, in reality, a purely personal one. It so happened that the facts were very simple. He held a certain allotment in Auckland; the Government took it without asking his leave; he demanded compensation, and got it."

Now, in self-justification— to show that the transaction referred to was a political matter, permit me to make, through your columns, the following statement, the correctness of which is well known, and can, if necessary, be fully substantiated. The allotment called " Fort Ligar" belonged to the Old New Zealand Banking Company. In April 1845, at the time of the Maori war, the Government took that land to build a fort for public safety. Mr. Ligar afterwards agreed to purchase the land from the Bank; the bargain was completed, the money paid, and the original Crown grant was delivered up to the Government. In August (the same year) Mr. Whitaker, Bank Solicitor, offered to buy the same land from the Bank. The Bank said they had nothing to do with the dispute, and would do nothing in the matter without consent of the Government. Mr. Whitaker said he would soon get that, and brought Mr. Ligar with him— and they said the Manager should undo the first affair and sell to Mr. Whitaker. Mr. Whitaker then went to Governor FitzRoy, and said he would give the Fort to the Government if a piece of land were given to him where he asked. This was agreed to, and Mr Whitaker chose the Seashore in front of the Kawau Copper Mine. I think the facts speak for themselves." Yours. &c, W. C. Daldy. P.S. I shall publish extracts from the Affidavits made in the Supreme Court on this subject.

Southern Cross 23 October 1855

The Smith report advises that it seems that the site, a grammar school endowment by the 1850s, was built over with what remained of the fort-that-never-was erased beneath residences by around 1859. These days, it's part of the SkyCity site, and the Inter City bus terminal. Next time I'm heading out of town, I'll know now just what was near where I wait.

Ah, well. Yet another probably interesting 21st century tourist attraction gone before the marketing people could even be born.

Street Stories 17: History's kinks in Whitney Street

2008 aerial photo. Auckland Council website.

Updated 12 September 2016.

A commenter, Neil under this post,  asked: " ...if you want to try something else, could you do an article on what was happening in Blockhouse Bay around Whitney/Terry Sts in the early days!!"

Okay -- I take it the question was something to do with why on earth we have a crazy intersection at the joining of Terry and Whitney Streets? (If not, get back to me, Neil!)

Above is the intersection in question. Instead of a simple north-south, east-west layout which meets together neatly and cleanly, today we have this. I'm not a driver -- but as a pedestrian walking down the length of Whitney one time (just to see how long it took to get from New Windsor to Lynfield. Answer: 45 minutes without rushing), I have to say it is very, very confusing.

I've added the original Parish of Titirangi allotment numbers to the aerial detail above. These are the root of the problem, from what I can see at a quick glance of my records this Sunday afternoon.

Allotment 76 (lower left of this detail from Roll 45, dating from around the late 1840s-early 1850s, LINZ records, crown copyright) was sold by Crown Grant in 1845. Its subdivision happened in 1859 -- not altogether successfully, as much of the land was uneven, marshy, and generally inhospitable. It was a planning headache for Auckland City Council into the middle of the 20th century.

"Sections for sale in Blockhouse Bay, with all the streets named, but most were never made. Henry Powning Stark subdivided this allotment, No. 76, between June and August 1858." Reference NZ Map 4498-2, Sir George Grey Special Collections.

Henry Powning Stark started the problem right then in 1858. In the original survey for those allotments between Blockhouse Bay, New Windsor/Boundary Road and the future Donovan Street, no allowance had been made for cross roads linking the three main ones. Stark added in Whittaker Street (Whitney) and Thomas Street (Terry) -- but it doesn't look like anyone else followed suit at the time.

Allotment 77 (across Whitney Street from Stark's subdivision) was sold by Crown Grant in 1845 as well, but not subdivided until 1907.

Allotment 79 (across Terry Street from Stark) was under Crown Grant from 1845 as well -- but subdivided in 1894.

The problem came with Allotment 78, which wasn't sold under Crown Grant at all. In the 1880s or so, the Government further subdivided it themselves -- but by then, it appears the owners of 77 and 79 wouldn't give an inch toward the formation and continuation of Terry and Whitney Streets. The dreadful kinked intersection was therefore established by c.1890.

Detail from Roll 46, County of Eden map, c.1890, LINZ records, crown copyright

Two lesser kinks, at Tiverton/Whitney and Margate/Whitney, are probably due to a similar circumstance: Allotment 82 was included in John Shedden Adam's May 1865 Windsor Estate land sale -- but it can't have sold. Instead, by 1888, the Government was subdividing that and Allotment 78. The Education Board took over the Whitney Street frontage for the allotment in the early 1890s, and leased it in pieces well into the 20th century.

Aerial 1940, Auckland Council website.

Aerial 1959-1960, Auckland Council website.

Aerial 1996, Auckland Council website.

So there it is. A crooked Whitney and Terry Streets (with others to a lesser degree) -- with my hypothesis being that it was due to the pattern of land sales, plus lack of road survey right at the start. Folks in the mid 1840s, I suppose, never realised how New Windsor would become a popular place in which to live. And how straight roads would have been a truly grand idea ...

Visiting Hopua's remains

Detail from "The isthmus of Auckland with its extinct volcanoes by Dr Ferdinand von Hochstetter 1859", pub. 1865, reference NZ Map 5694b, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

This was one of those journeys where I had started off aiming for one destination/goal -- obtaining a good shot of the Onehunga Sea Scout Hall on Orpheus Drive without getting myself tangled up in the traffic off State Highway 20 in the process. On the way, the journey itself became just as important. Especially when I realised where exactly I was in terms of the landscape remains of Onehunga's past.

To get to the Sea Scout Hall, an extremely obvious landmark to traffic speeding past it to and from Mangere these days, I decided to take a walk down the southern end of Onehunga Mall, formerly Onehunga's Queen Street, the old path to the borough's wharves, and still a bit of a route to the newer wharves there today.

Onehunga Mall curves here, wrapping itself around a tuff ring of a relatively young (in terms of Auckland's volcanic field) volcano called Hopua ("hollowed"). You can see it labelled by Hochstetter in his 1859 survey of Auckland's many geologic features. To quote from Chapter 5 of the "SH20 Manukau Harbour Crossing Project" report, 2006, p. 91:

The Hopua tuff ring (variously known as Hopua Gloucester Park, Geddes Basin and Onehunga Basin) is a volcanic feature centred on Gloucester Park and which is bisected by the existing motorway. Hopua is one of the younger centres in the Auckland volcanic field and is related to a group of explosion craters between One Tree Hill and Three Kings.

Hopua was originally formed on the Manukau lowlands by the eruption of basalt magma. This eruption built a tuff ring with the high side to the north and the low side to the south. As is the case with a number of other Auckland tuff rings, when sea level rose after the last ice age the crater rim breached and it was a shallow tidal lagoon up until about 60 years ago. The lagoon was subsequently reclaimed with fill in the 1940s. The motorway approach was routed through the middle of the crater as the Onehunga area was
developed in the 1960s and 1970s ...

... there are only limited outcrops of the tuff forming the ring on its northern side of the ring. Most of what is known about the feature is inferred from the shape of the ring. The tuff ring has a low profile and is breached on the southern side. Given this and buildings located along much of the crater rim, it is not readily identified as a volcanic feature.

Currently, the crater floor exists as a playing field and a passive reserve separated by the motorway. The rim of the crater can be identified, although it has been modified by development and is partly built on, especially on the eastern and northern sides.

According to Janice C Mogford in her book The Onehunga Heritage, 1989, Hopua was part of the earliest officially recorded land sale in Onehunga in 1844, when John Thomas Jackson purchased a large block of land of around 163 acres from Wiremu Hopihone and Te Tinana, thew block known as "Waihihi", all for one horse, one bridle and saddle, and £2. 100 acres of this was sold by Jackson two years later to Peter Imlay, who sold his shoreline land, including the basin, to Alexander Geddes.

Geddes farmed over at Mangere, but based himself at "Waihihi" -- and died from a fall off his horse on the Epsom (Manukau) Road 28 April 1851.

Mr. Augustus Warrington said — I am a surgeon practising at Onehunga. On Monday evening, the 28th inst., between 8 and 9 o'clock, I was summoned to attend Mr. Geddes. I immediately started for Mr. Tye's, where the messenger informed me he lay. I found him in a state of insensibility. For the satisfaction of those present, I opened a vein in the right arm ; about half-an-ounce of congealed blood came. I used the usual remedies in cases of the kind. He died about 1 o'clock. Dr. Philson came from Auckland, accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Purchas. Dr. Philson agreed with me that all was done that could have been done for him. The cause of death was compression of the brain, caused by extravasation of blood. The Jury returned a Verdict "That Alex. Geddes was accidentally killed by a fall from his horse, in consequence of the horse stumbling." 

Southern Cross 2 May 1851

While his lands passed into other hands after his early demise (he was only 39), his name lingered on the landscape for considerably longer. Hopua became known as Geddes Basin to locals up to the middle of the 20th century.

Allotments for sale around the Onehunga basin, 1862. Reference NZ Map 4496-33, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

The lines of Onehunga Mall and Wharf Road on either side of the flooded tuff ring were in place by the early 1860s, the western side (Wharf Road) terminating on Onehunga's first wharf completed in 1858.

Detail from County of Eden map, 1890s, Roll 46, LINZ records, crown copyright.

In 1878, the old wharf on the western arm of the basin had been replaced and superseded by a railway wharf on the eastern arm, with rail links to Onehunga Station and to Auckland. By the 1890s, Queen Street and Wharf Road were joined together, and the basin became more of a tidal pool than a small harbour.

Postcard from c.1912, showing the Onehunga Basin with Manukau Yacht Club House, from Wikipedia, by Bryndlefly. Copyright info from source page: permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.

Looking south showing the Onehunga basin with tea kiosk in background, 1919. Reference 4-2524, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

According to Mogford, during Edward Morton's term of office as Mayor of Onehunga Borough, 1929-1935:

 ...the controversial decision was made to use the old crater near the wharf ... for a council rubbish tip. There was some protest that this unique geological formation was to be destroyed and lost forever in this reclamation, but the authorities and general public were not so environmentally aware of our heritage as they are today. In the span of a few years the crater was cut off by road, filled in, levelled, grassed and renamed with due ceremony Gloucester Park in honour of the King's brother, the Duke of Gloucester, who had paid a goodwill visit to New Zealand at the end of 1934.

From January 1935, it was the site for Onehunga Speedway, opened on 5 January by the Governor-general. Onehunga Borough, however, were still filling and reclaiming at the park up to at least 1941. (Evening Post 16 June 1941, p. 3)

1940 aerial. Auckland Council website.

Detail from NZ Map 2257, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

Mogford says that the army took over the park during World War II.

1959-1960 aerial. Auckland Council website.

Above is one of the last views of a pristine Gloucester Park, the filled-in and damaged version of the original Hopua volcano. In the 1980s, Hugh Watt Drive from Mangere was constructed, going right through the remains of Hopua, and Gloucester Park. From then on, the park was cut in two by a busy motorway.

1998 aerial. Auckland Council website. 

2008 aerial. Auckland Council website. Aotea Sea Scouts building highlighted.

The goal of my visit to Hopua's remains was to sight and photograph the Aotea Sea Scouts Hall (circled above).  Today, the part of the old Wharf Road it's located on is Orpheus Drive. Just as the HMS Orpheus needed to take care navigating through the Manukau Heads (tragically, unsuccessfully) -- a lot of care is needed to get the hall on digital image these days. The bloke taking the photo in the early postcard above had it easy!

I visited part of Gloucester Park, this filled-in and heavily altered remnant of Hopua.

This is used for events. At the time of writing, a Pasifik Christmas is planned for 3 December 2011, with activities, food stalls, and concert.

But this safer part of the area didn't do much for my mission. The building was way on the other side of that motorway.

Heading further down Onehunga Mall -- I spotted this. Perhaps used during the temporary events?

Anyway, I went along safe paths along the outer edge of Hopua's remains. Under the new Mangere Bridges, over a walkway footbridge (back to my dread of crossing high footbridges over very, very busy roads ...)

Safely on the other side, and past the new wharves, I came upon possibly remnants of the older wharves. Or at least a landing constructed last century on the bones of the old 1858 version. I was now on what was Wharf Road, then Gloucester Park Road, now today's Orpheus Drive.

At this stage, I still wasn't sure how I'd safely manage to get a shot, so took this as possibly the best that I'd get of the iconic front of the building. But -- I'd made it this far, and decided to keep on going.

More of the old wharf/landing areas.

Side-on to the hall building ...

... then sort-of in front. I was fortunate, though, that this area seems to be a bit of a calm spot, relatively speaking, in the whole roads setup around here. I was able to safely duck across to a broad traffic island and ...

... there it is. It always reminds me of a man with a moustache. Sadly, it's missing one of the Aotea Sea Scout logos. It now appears like an old man with the sight gone from one eye.

The hall was originally the base for the Manukau Yacht and Motor Boat Club, which formed at Onehunga in 1891. From 1907, plans were made to acquire a site and raise money for building the clubhouse, designed by local architect (later mayor of Onehunga) John Park.  Opening day was 9 December 1911,  a community event despite the inclement weather. The Club’s history (Ruth Ballard, The Manukau Yacht & Motor Boat Club, 100 Years 1891-1991) states that a number of additions, alterations and extensions were made to the clubhouse building between 1911 and 1972, when the Ministry of works purchased the building. Gloucester Park Road was widened and realigned by the Ministry of Works in 1966. The club used the old clubhouse for social events and meeting up until December 1972, when it was sold to the Ministry of Works for $8,500. Negotiations for a lease of land at what is now 2 Orpheus Drive began in 1975. In 1977 the Aotea Sea Scout group began to use the old clubhouse. Their group had begun in Onehunga in 1947, adopting the name Aotea Sea Scouts in 1957.

Looks like they're still hanging in there, despite all the changes, for the moment. The hall is probably, apart from the old pilings and landing stonework, the last remainder of the old Hopua / Geddes Basin where once there were shipyards and small craft sheltered from the changeable moods of the mighty Manukau Harbour.