Towards the end of our latest trip to New Zealand we visited the Governors Bay Jetty as we explored parts of the Banks Peninsula.
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Governors Bay is situated south of Christchurch on the Banks Peninsula, along Governors Bay Road as you head west from Lyttelton. Alternatively, you can take the Dyers Pass Road south from Christchurch.
The Governors Bay Jetty was originally a short jetty that was built in 1874. It was later extended to about 300 metres ( ~984 feet).
The jetty is made of wood and sits close to the surface of the water. It is accessed by a narrow road going down the hillside. There is very little parking at the bottom of the hill. It can make more sense to park near the local school and hike down to the Jetty.
In 2011 the Jetty suffered irreparable damage following the Canterbury Earthquakes.
It was closed because of safety issues that were discovered during a post earthquake engineering inspection.
In 2015 the Christchurch City Council estimated that a rebuild would cost $7.8 million, and deemed it too expensive to proceed.
The determined local community was not prepared to take “no” for an answer.
The Governors Bay Jetty Restoration Trust was created with the objective of saving the jetty at a fraction of the original estimated rebuild cost.
In 2019 the Jetty was sold to the Trust for $1. This gave the Trust control of the structure so it could begin the rebuild process. The city council had agreed to transfer ownership of the Governors Bay Jetty to the Trust in 2016.
The city council allocated $935,000 for the project in its Long Term Plan. The Trust undertook intensive fundraising efforts to pay for the remaining cost of the restoration.
In 2019, prior to the restoration beginning, vandals set a small fire at the end of the Jetty. Some wooden pillars were broken and the fence at the entrance was damaged.
The fire was extinguished by members of the Governors Bay Volunteer Fire Brigade, who carried buckets of water down its 300 metre length.
The vandalism happened not too long after the Governors Bay Jetty Restoration Trust bought the 150-year-old structure from the city council for $1.
Building consent was granted in May 2020. Early estimates of rebuild costs were obtained… then COVID-19 hit and caused some disruptions with the project. The rebuild started in September 2022. On September 30, 2023 a crowd of supporters celebrated the grand opening of the newly built Governors Bay Jetty.
The cost of the restoration project, which was completed in 2023, was $3.7 million, far below the original 2015 cost of $7.8 million estimated by the Christchurch City Council.
After the restoration was completed the Governors Bay Jetty was sold back to the city council for $1.
During our visit to the Governors Bay Jetty we met a local resident who was walking her dog on the Jetty.
As we chatted with her, we learned that very few tourists make the trip out to the experience the Governors Bay Jetty.
The story of the Governors Bay Jetty is one full of determination, creativity, and community spirit. If you visit the Christchurch area, you may want to consider a visit to the Governors Bay Jetty. It’s about a 1/2 hour drive (in good traffic) from the centre of Christchurch and well worth the drive.
Technical Note
Photographs were captured handheld using camera equipment noted in the EXIF data. All images were created from RAW files using my standard process in post. This is the 1,443 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.
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