Akatarawa Confluence (Wellington) Multi-Cache
Akatarawa Confluence (Wellington)
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The Akatarawa degree confluence is in the Whakatiki forest, a small pine forest within the Akatarawa Forest Park.
As defined by the degree confluence project a degree confluence is the exact spot where an integer degree of latitude and an integer degree of longitude meet. The project uses the WGS84 datum to define the confluence location. There are 33 land based degree confluence points in New Zealand. This confluence point is one of only a few that are not on private land, and of these probably the easiest to access. There are some accounts and photos of earlier visits to this confluence on the degree confluence web site. In both cases they have accessed the confluence from SH1 via private land. The actual confluence, and cache, are not however on private land. The best way to access the cache would be by trail bike, quad bike, or mountain bike. You can of course walk it but it is about 7km uphill from the road end. Trail bike or quad bike riders will require trail riding permits but they are free, call the Upper Hutt Office of the Greater Wellington Regional Council on 04 526 4133. They will probably post them out to you. Drive to the Maungakotukutuku Valley which is to the east of Paraparaumu. The easiest way to get there is to turn off State Highway One into Waterfall Road, approx 1Km north of Mackays Crossing. Follow this road until it joins to Valley Rd and turn off into Maungakotukutuku Rd. After approx. 10mins you will see on the right, the base for the 4x4 Adventure Tours. Park here, there is plenty of parking available. Cross a small stream and travel up Perhams road for approx. 6.2Km. At the top is Titi road though it is not signposted. Turn right to the SW and follow this track along the ridge for approx. 1Km until you encounter pine trees just past a derelict old gate. If you are on a trail or quad bike park here and walk the rest, it is only a very short distance. The confluence point itself is in the pine forest on a 35 deg hillside. Due to the tree cover reception is not the best and depending on your receiver you may or may not have some difficulty in getting your GPSr to display all those magic zero’s. As there was no suitable place for the cache at the actual confluence it has been located 78m away at 49 deg true from the published co-ordinates. There is only one physical cache to find, the published co-ordinates are a virtual waypoint. The cache is located in a cleared area where there is good reception. The cache itself is a 200ml sistema with log book and pen. Unfortunately little room for tradeable items or TB’s etc. Please Note: 1/ This is a remote wilderness area, the weather is notoriously changeable so carry warm waterproof clothing even if the weather is fine. Take high energy snacks with you plus drinking water. 2/ It is a popular area for trail bikes and quads, stay vigilant, keep left, and keep your speed down. 3/ It is an easy area to get lost in due to the terrain and the number of tracks, plus pylon access and old logging roads in the area. It is recommended you have track logging (backtrack function) enabled on your GPS receiver plus carry a paper topographical map ( NZ 260 series Paraparaumu – R26), and compass as backup. Links: Degree Confluence website http://www.confluence.org/ Akatarawa Forest information http://www.gw.govt.nz/section397.cfm A handy calculator :-) http://williams.best.vwh.net/gccalc.htm Other nearby Caches: GC10GNT Top of Titi (Wellington) http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC10GNT GC10GMV Maungakotukutuku Wander (Wellington) http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=96587c2a-ca88-4b75-9845-781dc0fa3308
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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