Waikato River Bridge - 1874
(From 'The News and Theatre Courier' 12 August 1936)
'As told by Mr John Scott Fisher, the last man to cross over the old bridge built on the rocks was Jack Fitzgerald. He had come into town and was returning home to Pukerimu, carrying with him an urgent message from the Postmaster. Mr Fitzgerald had been warned not to cross the bridge, but on arrival there he decided to make the attempt, and even then a roaring menace was lapping the planks of the bridge. When going across on his pony Mr Fitzgerald felt the water lifting the planks and he just reached the other side when the whole structure was swept away down stream.'
'For a time the small settlement of Pukerimu was isolated and so came into use the punt. It carried many at a penny a time.'
'Another story told by Mr Fisher was that one resident invariably greeted the punt-keeper with a pound note. One day, when asked, "Could you change a pound?" the keeper replied, "Yes," and handed the surprised resident 239 pennies.'
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