Grade
FlatDistance
3.25 kmWalking
35 minutesCycling
10 minutes
The popular Oneroa and Ngā Wai Weherua (City Rivers) Trails create a continuous shared concrete/boardwalk path beside the picturesque Midway and Waikanae beaches, a short distance from the city centre, and around the Tūranganui, Taruheru and Waimatā rivers.
These trails connect with the start of Te Ara o Taruheru (Taruheru River Cycle and Walkway), which will lead to Campion College through Nelson Park, roughly following the Taruheru River. This trail is still in the planning stage, and is likely to be completed in sections. The Oneroa and Ngā Wai Weherua Trails also connect to the Gisborne -Wainui Cycle and Walkway through the Inner Harbour, to the Titirangi Bush Trails and Titirangi Cycle and Walkway (Queens Drive-Titirangi Drive), and to the Tupapa Heritage Trail.
Oneroa and City Rivers Trail
History of the trail
Both these trails allow walkers, cyclists, people on mobility scooters, and children on scooters and skateboards to share the magic and views of Tūranganui’s ocean, river and port.
The area is full of history from early Māori who travelled across the Pacific and settled in the area, through to the first meeting place of Europeans and Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand in October 1769.
The Tupapa Trail shares stories of early Māori settlements. A tactile 3D location map is set within a grassy reserve about 100 metres up the Tūranganui River from the mouth of Waikanae Stream.
Two statues feature on the beach side of Waikanae Stream – Anthony Stone’s original bronze and resin figure of explorer Lieutenant James Cook and Frank Szirmay’s bronze of Nicholas Young, known as Young Nick, who first sighted the land that became known as New Zealand from the HMS Endeavour.
A vintage railway building opposite Waikanae Stream bridge is the home of Wa165, which operates for tourists, cruise ship visitors and locals in the summer.
Tairāwhiti Museum is a short departure from the trail. Its building is visible from the trail between the Peel Street Bridge and Grey Street, and incorporates part of the Star of Canada that went aground off Kaiti Beach in 1912. This part of the museum holds its maritime collection.
A path through Kelvin Park, just across the Peel Street Bridge, leads to the museum and a memorial exhibition to C Company, a Māori Battalion from World War 2. Gisborne's oldest existing house, Wyllie Cottage, sits next to the museum in Stout Street.
Tips & Logistics
Walkers often start this trail by leaving their vehicle at the car park at Midway Surf Club at one end or around the river end of Grey or Derby streets (around Mitre10).
Cafes are at both ends – within Mitre10 or at or near The Midway Surf Lifesaving Club. A café is within the Kiwa Pools complex across the road from the club. A coffee vendor often sets up for coffee near the Waikanae Stream on Customhouse Street, about half way around the trail.
Being at the edge of the city, the trail provides easy access to shops, restaurants and inner city accommodation. Several restaurants are based across the river at the Inner Harbour.
The trail also leads into the Wainui-Tamarau Trail, from Gladstone Road Bridge, and to Te Ara o Titirangi/ Titirangi Trails), Inner Harbour and port.