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Outstanding progress has been made by volunteers on the walking and cycling trail that will eventually link Tairua and Pauanui.

Since December volunteers with the Hikuai District Trust have built five more bridges over the ephemeral streams, secured the bridges with metal and completed 700m of track.

A section of the walking and cycling trail linking Tairua and Pauanui which is currently under construction. Photos: Supplied

Once finished the track will follow the banks of the scenic Tairua estuary from the end of the existing Coastal Walkway track and link up with public access way from the Tairua Primary School.

At this stage, resource consent has been granted to take the Trail as far as Duck Creek.

With the Tangitarori Canal Bridge and Duck Creek to Picnic Point parts of the trail now completed, summer visitors to the Coromandel can walk these sections and get their first real sense of the finished project.

In addition to local labour on the project, petrol company BP has recently joined the trail sponsors by donating petrol vouchers to the volunteers who need to travel to the Trail construction area.

Trail Chairperson Garry Fowler says the vouchers are most welcome and have been passed to the construction team.

'Two additional grants were received this month,” says Garry. 'The Sir John Logan Campbell Residuary Estate has granted $2,897 to assist with pest eradication, and the Waikato branch of Forest and Bird also granted $1,400 for Trail pest eradication.

'Work on constructing the outer casing of traps is now being undertaken by the Pauanui Menz Shed.”

Garry and the Trail Committee efforts were honoured at the recent Pauanui Sports and Recreation Club's annual Volunteer Awards ceremony.

The Hikuai District Trust is the registered trust ran the very successful Concert in the Orchard which raised $150,000.00 for the local community.

In addition to the many organisations that have donated to the walkway, Thames-Coromandel District Council has given $56,000 and the Tairua-Pauanui Community Board has given $6,300.

Other contributors have included Rayonier, Walking Access Commission, Coastal Walkways, g.a.s. Service Station Pauanui, Forest and Bird Waikato, Sir John Logan Campbell Residuary Estate and BP.

The project began with Ian Hopper building the first stage from the Pauanui Waterways ten years ago, covering 1,600m of mostly board walks over the mangroves.

To read the full story of the trail visit: www.pauanuitairuatrail.org.nz