The Oldest in Town, I mean...New Zealand! Traditional Cache
Curglaff: 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.
The Oldest in Town, I mean...New Zealand!
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A straight forward cache that will take you to a little known (even to locals!) historic site in Meadowbank. I am currently a student of this college studying towards ordination and thought placing a cache here is a great way to showcase this wonderful part of Auckland.
The cache is placed in a historic site in Meadowbank, Auckland. The College of St. John the Evangelist is the oldest institute for higher learning in New Zealand being established in 1843 by the first and only Anglican Bishop of New Zealand, George Augustus Selwyn.
St. Johns is the Residential Theological College of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia and has been educating the clergy and laity of the Anglican Church in this province for over 165 years, making it the oldest institute of higher learning in New Zealand (beating the University of Otago by over 25 years) if not the southern hemisphere.
Originally located in Waimate, Northland, in 1854 Bishop Selwyn and his family moved to Auckland and so did the college. Following the purchase of around 450 acres of land surrounding the spot where the college now stands, the college was re-established on its current site and has been offering theological education in Meadowbank ever since.
The college continues to offer Theological Education and is still the only Provincial Anglican Theological College in New Zealand. In the past year there were over 40 residential scholarship students and numerous other day students at the college, ranging from diploma studies and undergraduate students to Masters and Ph.D students.
The college grounds themselves encompass a large area bordering St. Johns and College Road. There are several historic buildings/sites on the college site itself, the Collegiate Chapel of St. John and the College Dining Room (the Rota Waitoa Room) are two of the major historic buildings on site. The college also boasts what is arguably the best collection of theological resources in New Zealand in the form of the John Kinder Theological Library. While the library exists mainly for theological students it is a public library and membership is open to anyone. It is worth a look if you have time. The college also has an onsite cemetery where many prominent Anglicans are buried. Those buried there include members of the Williams family, former bishops and several Melanesian students. (Bring a piece of paper and a crayon to do some rubbings...there are some interesting headstones!)
The college is looked after by the St. Johns College Trust Board and it’s day to day running is headed by the executive, Te Kotahitanga. The Trust Board still has interests in the Meadowbank/St. Johns Community including numerous houses in the area which are used to house faculty of the college and students with families while single students live onsite in the Selwyn Cloisters.
Notable Alumni include former Archbishop and Governor General, The Rt Rev. Sir. Paul Reeves. Maori broadcaster, academic and activist The Ven. Dr. Hone Kaa and all three of the current Archbishops of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia.
The cache is placed near one of the gates into the college. There is no need to venture on to the college grounds to retrieve the cache. The cache is placed here to minimise the traffic into the college itself and to allow for night time retrievals as the college is private property from Sundown to Sunrise and this is reflected by the signage you will see at the gates. It is recommended that you either leave this cache for a night time hunt or a weekend grab if you are new to Geocaching as the grounds are usually very busy from 7:30am – 6:00pm weekdays. For experienced cachers though, it may be a nice challenge to attempt the grab in the middle of the day when all the students are onsite! If you are attempting at night please be aware that there is Night Prayer in the Chapel at 9:00pm from Monday – Thursday so there will be student muggles coming and going between 8:45pm and 9:45pm.
For those cachers who want to have a quick look at the college but don’t want to look too conspicuous there is another entrance to the east of the cache site where you can drive in and loop back out through the gate where the cache is.
At time of placement cache contained log book, pencil and the usual swaps.
I hope you enjoy my first hide!
***Cache is placed with permission, I am currently studying at the College and have included my personal business card in the cache should there be any problems.***
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ernq gur cyndhr, abj ybbx qbja gb lbhe yrsg.
Treasures
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