Footbridge at Whananaki Inlet, Northland, New Zealand. Image: Su Leslie 2019
The 400 metre bridge across the Whananaki Inlet was built by the local community so that children living on the south side of the river could attend school, which is on the north side.
Prior to the bridge, children were rowed across the inlet by one of the teachers — not much fun in bad weather. The alternative is a 12 kilometre each way road-trip.
Great post 🙂
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Beautiful photo and interesting insight to why the bridge exists. Rowing kids to school? That’s dedication to the teaching profession.
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Isn’t it!! I wonder if it was mentioned in the interviews.
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Wonderful reason
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Great perspective Su!
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Rowing my students across the inlet would not have been my cup of tea. Great photo, Su!
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400 meters that is one heck of a bridge.
Leslie xoxo
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I’m impressed that the community actually built it.
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I’m impressed that it actually exists….
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Not sure about crossing in bad weather!
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The bridge is pretty stable, and the inlet is quite sheltered — and I’d definitely prefer that to a boat trip.
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Me too!
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I wonder if they practiced multiplication tables on the boat.
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Hehe.
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That’s one long footbridge… better than rowing though!
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🙂
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Beautiful shot of this long bridge!
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beautiful- and very cool…..
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Thank you
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Superb photo. Did you try out the footbridge?
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We did! It’s a lovely walk.
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That’s dedication to the profession! And great pre-work workout. 😉
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Yeah, it would have disqualified some of my teachers from getting a job there.
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Most bridges I know have an economic background, it’s lovely to see that bridges can also be built to promote education. 😊
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This one also allows access to the local store (which serves amazing coffee btw) 😀
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We’re definitely on the same page/bridge here, Su. 🙂
janet
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🙂
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Great photo and so much less stressful for teachers than being stuck in a boat with a bunch of kids 😉
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Oh I know. Who’d be a teacher!
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Stunning capture of a much needed public throughway. City dwellers like myself seldom realise how crucial bridges and roads are: these are not simply improvements but necessities.
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Thanks Ju-Lyn. In NZ over the last few years, we’ve had some quite major bits of infrastructure destroyed by earthquakes and floods and landslides, so I think I’ve finally begun to appreciate how easy it is for me to get around in my day to day life (apart from the traffic of course).
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I hear you Su. Singapore is nearly free from natural disasters – so I think we take infrastructural comfort for granted.
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