Kaitoke Weir
The Kaitoke Weir sits astride the Hutt River in a steep-sided gorge in the Kaitoke Regional Park.
Kaitoke Weir in the dry season
Half of the Wellington water supply is taken from the Hutt River at this point. A noticeboard at the weir shows you a map of the major components of the reticulated water supply network for Wellington, Porirua and the Hutt Valley and provides a lot of information about the system and its history. To find the final cache you need to answer a few questions from information you can obtain at this point.
The listed co-ordinates are for one of several spots where you can park your car to walk up to the weir (there is a locked barrier across the road that leads to the weir). There is a toilet block, nearby picnic tables and access to a nice part of the river close to this so you can make it a family outing.
Hutt River close to the the start of your expedition
In spite of what the sign by the barrier says it should NOT take you 15 minutes return to walk to the weir and back as it is only 300 metres away, but you do need to read the information board to get some of the answers you require and perhaps take some photos of the weir (especially when the river is in flood, when it is pretty spectacular). It would be great if you can post photos of the weir with your log entry to show the variations in the amount (and colour) of the water flowing past here that ends up in your taps, though a photo is NOT a requirement for logging this cache.
The cache
The cache is also within the Kaitoke Regional Park and can be found at S41 04.ABC E175 11.DEF where:
A = Last digit of the last year in which water flowed to Karori from the weir by gravity alone
B = Number of baths full of high quality water supplied per person on a typical day through the water supply network PLUS one
C = Second digit of the length of the tunnel that takes water from here to the Kaitoke Strainer House
D = The number of panels in the metal post and chain link fence that stop you falling into the river at WP1 (DO NOT count the little bit of netting across the end attached to a concrete post: only the panels in the straight section)
E = Sum of the digits for the number of milk tanker equivalents of water that flow over the weir per second when the river is in flood PLUS two
F = Middle digit of the number of kilometres of pipes used in the water supply network
The cache is an Eclipse tin with some camo in front to make it harder to spot. Unless you are moderately tall you will either require something to stand on or someone to lift you to retrieve and replace the cache. There is no pen or pencil in the cache container, so please make sure you bring your own. Online entries that are not contained in the paper log will be deleted. Please make sure you rehide the cache carefully exactly as found and check before leaving that it can't be spotted by a casual muggle glance so it doesn't get removed yet again.