Zero Pests: Orokonui (Dunedin, Otago) Multi-Cache
Hidden : 10/4/2013
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:





There are Zero Pests at Orokonui        
- nevertheless, geocachers are very welcome !

This multi is available during Orokonui Visitor Centre opening hours. While these are not permitted to be published, please contact the cache owner for fuller information.







This cache is placed with the kind permission of Orokonui Ecosanctuary management. All waypoints and final are outside the exclosure fence in areas accessible to all visitors. You do not need to interact with staff to complete this cache.

The multi start icon is at the entrance of the Orokonui Information Centre. Explore the informative displays inside the Centre and the landscaped area outside. Once you've answered the questions at Waypoints A to G:

Checksum: A + B + C + D + E + F + G = 54

Arithmetic to get the final coordinates:
W = C minus A
X = B minus D
Y = A minus E
Z = E minus F

The final is a 1.6 litre screwtop at S 45 46. WXB E 170 36. GYZ






...or for a more vigorous caching trip, try the 3- 4 hour walk around the outside of the exclosure fence. Starting from Pest Proof Fence?, do the uphill first, then it's all downhill after the cache to complete the 9 km circuit.




Waypoint A: The bird sculpture on your LEFT as you walk TOWARDS the Information Centre entrance
Number of supporters listed on the plaque underneath the sculpture = A

There is a bird sculpture on either side of the Information centre entrance; make sure you go to the one on the LEFT as you approach the doors, the downhill side. The statue is a call to the birds based on the kaka. It was created by Moira Crossman, a stone carver and weaver who has a workshop in Waitati.



The next three waypoints are displays within the Visitor Centre. The building is designed to be environmentally sustainable, positioned to capture and retain sun and warmth. Much of the timber was milled from exotic pines removed from inside the sanctuary, shipping containers have been recycled into administration areas, and waste water is treated onsite. It won a New Zealand Institute of Architects 2011 New Zealand Sustainable Architecture Award.



Waypoint B:Inside Visitor Centre - Display board with map of the ecosanctuary.
The kaka says "Before you head out into my _____"
Number of letters in next word = B

The Xcluder “Kiwi” fence is 8.7 km long, 2 m high, cost $2.2 million to build and is designed to exclude all mammalian pests. It has a mesh size smaller than even baby mice, a curved steel hood to keep out climbing animals and a mesh skirt at ground level that stops burrowing animals. There is also an electronic surveillance wire to alert staff if anything breaks the fence. A dedicated team of volunteers walk the entire length of the fence checking for any damage several times a week!

Waypoint C: Display titled "Your guide to who's who"
There are C bird call buttons to press

Many native species were living in the Orokonui kanuka/broadleaf and podocarp forest before the predator-proof fence was constructed, such as riflemen, kereru (wood pigeons), korimako (bellbirds), waxeyes, fernbirds, skinks and geckos, and eleven species of native fish in the Orokonui stream.






Waypoint D: Inside Visitor Centre - Display board titled "If you see... Medium"
The first bird on the list "flying with noisy wingbeats - ______ ".
Number of letters in next word = D








Waypoint E: Exclosure post #1: the first post uphill past the strainer post on the right of ecosanctuary gate. Plaque on post at head height shows it was donated by Eric and Chris.
Number of letters in Eric and Chris's surname = E.









Waypoint F: Bench by pond
Bench is on F posts

This pond is home to a longfin eel named Waimarie (peaceful waters). She is fed raw mince from time to time (but the public aren’t encouraged to do this). Eels

Waypoint G: Seat by farm shed ruins
Plaque on seat has G lines of writing on it

The upper valley was farmed from the 1870s until the 1940s. The ruins you see here were Mr J Holland’s dairy shed in the 1900s; the farmhouse was where the Visitor Centre is now.

The lower end of the Orokonui valley has a more interesting history. Dunedin merchant Percival Neill (later owner of Chingford Park and great-grandfather of actor Sam Neill) developed the land as a private game reserve in the 1870s, stocking it with trout, pheasants, quail, partridges and rabbits. Neill sold it to the Rev Stanford who ran a boys’ boarding school, Orakanui College, between 1878 and 1884. In 1881, Orakanui was one of the ten founding clubs of the ORFU. In 1901 the 857 acres were bought by the Seacliff Asylum and became the Orokonui Home for Inebriates, staffed with special attendants hand-picked by Truby King for their staunchness and insensitivity to the perceived habits of alcoholics. After the hospital closed in 1983, the 230 ha forested area became conservation land.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Fvg Negvsvpvny. Fghzcrq?

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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