The Hokitika River cableway is open again after repairs to its hand-winding mechanism, which failed this summer.

DOC Hokitika district operations manager, Owen Kilgour, said the cableway became inoperable due to the bearings in the hand winding mechanism failing. “The main structure and carriage were unaffected.”

DOC reopened the cableway in mid-April.

The cableway spans the Hokitika River, which is usually impossible to ford. It provides access to Rapid Creek Hut and the Whitcombe Valley beyond. The Whitcombe Pass Track follows rugged bush-clad valleys of the lower Hokitika and Whitcombe Rivers to the Main Divide.

Generally, cableways were built in New Zealand when a river was too wide or expansive to span using a conventional footbridge. Few cableways remain in use today.

In the Tararua Range, for example, cableways once existed across the Waiohine, Otaki and Waingawa rivers. Now, none remain. In Arthur’s Pass National Park, the Clough Cableway (named after a tramper who drowned in the area) spans the White River. However, it’s no longer operable due  to damage to its draw cable.