Culture Cache Auckland: Te Waharoa O Aotea Traditional Cache
Zero Gravitas: As there's been no cache to find for months, I'm archiving it to keep it from continually showing up in search lists, and to prevent it from blocking other cache placements. If you wish to repair/replace the cache sometime in the future, just contact us (by email), and assuming it meets the guidelines, we'll be happy to unarchive it.
Culture Cache Auckland: Te Waharoa O Aotea
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Size: 
(micro)
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Te Waharoa O Aotea is a sculpture by Selwyn Muru. A well-known Maori artist, Selwyn Muru was born in 1939 in Te Hapua. His tribal affiliations are Te Aupouri and Ngati Kuri. He says "The aim of this waharoa (gateway) is to welcome and embrace manuhiri (visitors) to Aotea Square. I chose wood as the medium because it already has mauri (lifeforce) of its own that would exude warmth in an environment dominated by steel, glass and stone." T. Werner, Aotea Centre: Works of Art
Te Waharoa O Aotea was commissioned by Auckland City Council,and carved from Macrocarpa wood, and painted, by Selwyn Muru 1990. In 2008 the Waharoa was removed from Aotea Square as the Square was completely closed off the the public and an intensive programme of refurbishment of the Square, the steps and portions of the facade of the Aotea Centre and the three-level carpark below, were carried out to address structural and maintenance issues. During this time Selwyn Muru worked on the Waharoa, cleaning, refurbishing and adding new carved elements to it. Te Waharoa O Aotea was re-installed into the Aotea Square in time for its official re-opening on the 1st of October 2010. Carved into the face of Te Waharoa O Aotea is a Haiku by renowned Maori poet Hone Tuwhare, who passed away in 2008. Muru has carved it in both Te Reo (Maori) and English. In English it reads: Haiku Stop your snivelling creek-bed come rain hail and flood-water l augh again This Haiku can also be found carved into a stone set into the pavement / footpath not far away on Queen Street in front of what is now Borders Bookstore. Its placement there is significant as it is part of the artwork '"Source" that marks the course of Wai Horotiu, or the Horotiu creek:"Queen St at that time was a creek, called Horotiu, that ran down the western side of the valley and emptied into the harbour where Swanson St is today. Its lower reaches, later to be the commercial heart of Auckland, were a swamp of flax and toe toe." John Roughan, New Zealand Herald, 25 August 2010 The Cache:The cache is a micro cache, containing a small log and official Geocaching.com cachenote, located at Te Waharoa. Bring your own pen or pencil! Please put back in its (slightly tricky?) place. Be stealthy - its a high traffic Muggle zone! Please do give CultureCache feedback on the accuracy of the GPS co-ordinates, we spent a long time waypointing and trying to get it right when we placed it but it was tricky on the day for some reason.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Trg hc pybfr naq crefbany gb Fryjla'f jbex naq lbh'yy trg gur ybjqbja
Treasures
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