The sleepless nights are over but there is plenty of hard work ahead for the Gibbston community if it is to have the full 8.5km Gibbston River Trail open in December.
A lively evening was had by all who attended the fundraising auction for the trail at Millbrook Resort on Friday night and Gibbston Community Association chairwoman Susan Stevens was confident the $31,000 shortfall had been raised.
While some money was still to be collected, she said the total $1.4 million target required to stop a $50,000 Lotteries Commission grant from expiring today had been secured.
Before the evening, the community had raised $1.37 million for the trail, which will follow the course of the Kawarau River through the valley.
The evening began with live jazz from Garrick Tremain and Lyn Jefcoate to set the mood.
The tasting tables of Gibbston's 19 winemakers also ensured everyone was in a merry mood by the time bidding began.
However, the purpose of the evening was soon spelt out by compere Kaye Parker - a "tiny community of 100 households" needed help to raise the last amount required to create a public walking trail through a beautiful and historic landscape: the Gibbston Valley.
As the auction started, it was clear there was a lot of goodwill for the project.
The bids rolled in for the items, which ranged from cases of rare wine to events and experiences, such as a tasting review of winemaking in Gibbston with venerated winemaker Alan Brady, and two nights' fishing and relaxing on a luxury boat in Milford Sound with Greg Hay, sampling fresh seafood matched with Peregrine wines.
Cases of the yet-to-be-bottled Gibbston Red Trial wine - a blend of the 19 winemakers in the region - also sold well.
"That sense of community spirit . . . It really came through," Mrs Stevens said.
Having spent the past two years driving the project, Mrs Stevens and her husband, Terry, also bid the highest amount on the night - about $10,000 - for a Peter Beadle painting depicting what the trail could look like.
"I had to have that painting," Mrs Stevens said.
"It is what I have been working for."
She said she felt re-energised by the experience, which would be useful, with a lot of hard work ahead if construction on the trail was to start by mid-October.
This week, she would finalise details required by the three largest donors - the Lotteries Commission, the Community Trust of Southland and the Central Lakes Trust - so they could release the funds.
She would then arrange for the purchase of bridge beams for the two bridges along the trail.
"There is a 30-day lag time on those," she said.
"Once we get those, then we can get the building under way."
