Cook's Cove Stairway (East Coast) Traditional Cache
TheCur8or: As there's been no cache to find for a long time, I'm archiving it to keep it from showing up in search lists, and to prevent it from blocking other cache placements.
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Cook's Cove Stairway (East Coast)
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On Cook's Cove Walkway
A bit of History
The walkway is named after the Cove and the English sailor and explorer, Captain James Cook. He visited the area in 1769 as part of his circumnavigation of New Zealand.
At that time the Tolaga Bay area had already been inhabited by Maori for many centuries. The main iwi (tribe) living at the Bay and using Cooks Cove for fishing and gathering other seafood was Te Aitanga a Hauiti who made their homes around the rich, coastal land of Tolaga Bay and the alluvial flats of the Uawa and Mangaheia Rivers.
There were large cultivations on the flats surrounding the low hills, and pa (fortified villages) on prominent ridges and high points, both inland and along the coast itself. Estimates of the early population of Tolaga Bay gives figures of around 1,200 people, a significant number at that time.
When James Cook's vessel, the Endeavour, first approached Tolaga Bay, he had already spent 2.5 weeks exploring the New Zealand coastline. He reached Poverty Bay in early October 1769, after a journey of just under 6 weeks, from Plymouth Sound, England, via Tahiti.
As the Endeavour anchored in Tolaga Bay, a number of canoes came alongside bringing crew fish and kumara. It seems that there was a great deal of contact between the locals and the visitors during the time that they were anchored in the bay.
The Tahitian high priest Tupaia, who travelled on board the Endeavour, spend time in discussions with local priests (tohunga) and appears to have made a deep impression. Various places were named after him.
The crew of the Endeavour spent some time at the place now known as Cooks Cove (Opoutama) where they dug a well for a spring to collect fresh water. They were also much taken with the Hole-in-the-Wall rock formation.
Cook weighed anchor and left Tolaga Bay in the early hours of the morning of Sunday 29 October 1769, after taking on supplies of wood, water and food.
The Endeavour visit was well remembered by the different hapu (sub-tribes) of Te Aitanga a Hauiti, and there are various accounts describing the kinds of goods that the local people acquired from Cook and the effect that they had on the local economy.
The Cache is a 200ml black painted Sistema Box with logbook and goodies.
PLEASE RE-HIDE THE CACHE AS YOU HAVE FOUND IT (It is a bit snug, make sure it is not turned upside down, thank you).
Use some stealth and watch for muggles coming from the bottom or from the top
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Haqre lbhe srrg