An icon of Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour is set to re-open after being damaged in the Canterbury Earthquakes.
The Governors Bay jetty, locally known for its extraordinary length and unofficial jetty jump competitions, had been closed since 2015.
Now, it is back to its former glory - just in time for summer.
Governors Bay jetty has stood proudly since 1874 and was popular for fishing, kayaking, jumping in, painting or just a wander.
Originally envisioned to take produce across to Lyttelton Harbour, it's beginnings were largely impractical, local historian Jane Robertson said.
"Some wanted a jetty at Allandale, some people wanted a jetty over at the point there, at Sandy Bay [but] these people won out. So the idea was they would build right here, where we're standing. But it was actually the wrong choice, it wasn't the deepest point at low tide," she said.
A huge extension in the early 1900s took it from 30m to the 300m length it was today, but earthquake damage had shut the hub of the bay for the last eight years.
It had been sorely missed, Save the Jetty Trust chairperson, Prue Miller said, with some locals heading over to Diamond Harbour to get their jetty jumping fix instead.
"When I was a child, we'd go down to the port and fish off the end of the wharves or walk along there but it's all cordoned off now, so you just can't get to the water. Obviously we've got beaches, but they're really only accessible at high tide. The jetty means that even at low tide, you can get to the water here," she said.
"And it's a wonderful promenade, a great place to walk and meet people, chat to people."
Save the Jetty Trust bought it off Christchurch City Council for a dollar on the condition they would give it back fully rebuilt.
(L-R) Save The Jetty Trust Secretary Louisa Eades, trust chairperson Prue Miller, trustee and structural engineer Nick Harwood and local historian Jane Robertson. Photo: RNZ / Niva Chittock
They soon realised they might have bitten off more than they could chew, said trustee and structural engineer, Nick Harwood.
"You go from thinking 'we'll go down to Mitre 10 and get some planks and some bits of wood' to a full-scale repair. The budget goes up and it became a major project as opposed to what the community might've thought was a repair job we could get onto with some working bees," he said.
Like many, the jetty held a special place for Martin Thompson and his family's LMA timber company - his sister got married on it.
He helped supply the 360,000 tonnes of timber needed, even sourcing some wood from a farm in nearby Little River.
"We don't have the Australian hardwoods that have got the class one, that 40 year plus natural durability. If we could actually find [all] the timber here, we would've and some of this jetty is built from the eucalyptus from just around the corner here," Thompson said.
It's built to last too, with the new jetty deck sitting 60cm higher to allow for rising sea levels.
The $3.7m rebuild cost had been split equally between the council and the Trust.
From shovels to tea towels - the community had done almost every fund raiser imaginable to cover its half, trust secretary Louisa Eades said.
"Garden shovels was an early fundraiser, someone on the trust got some cheap and we sold them for a profit. We've had two art auctions, where local artists have donated their artworks of the jetty and the local area, and we've auctioned them off - we've made $80,000 altogether from those, that was really good," she said.
"We've had secondhand clothing sales, two music festivals, we've sold a jetty beer - Two Thumb Brewery did two lots of jetty beer batches - we've sold calendars, t-shirts, teatowels and tote bags.
"And grants as well, we've had some really generous grant donations from the Lottery Commission Grant, Rātā Foundation and sponsorship from some businesses too - LMA Timber, Lyttelton Port Company and a few others," Eades said.
People were also still able to sponsor one of the jetty's 730 planks to get a commemorative plaque put on it.
One of the commemorative plaques on the jetty. Photo: RNZ / Niva Chittock
And with the project's costs not quite met, the fundraising was set to keep going.
"The Trust has currently raised $1.5m, which means we're about $300,000 short, so we'll continue to fundraise. We've got a few ideas up our sleeve and we've also got the old jetty to sell, if you know anyone who wants to buy a jetty!" Miller said.
Even the first official jetty jump at tomorrow's opening had been auctioned off - with the winner paying $1100 for the honour (and a permanent plaque).
There were also plans for the old piles next to the jetty, Miller said.
"The Trust has got resource consent to bring down the old Canterbury Motorboat and Yacht Club house that was on Te Ana Marina [in Lyttelton] since the 1920s. The port was going to demolish it but it was saved and the idea is that it will be loaded onto a barge and brought down here," she said.
Decking would be added and it would be transformed into an information centre, an artists' studio, toilets and storage for small boats such as kayaks, paddleboards, and dinghies.
For now though, it was time to enjoy what had already been accomplished.
The community's dedication and love for the landmark had been fantastic, Harwood said.
"So many people have been involved, hundreds of people. There's a core group but the jetty, to me it's a symbol of the human spirit, it's what can be done when so many people come together."
Thanks to that community spirit, it was now set to stand tall for another hundred years.
