ToP (Tour of Porirua) continues with what will be 20+ caches to be placed all around our great city of Porirua.

Porirua History

(with thanks to Wikipedia)

The name "Porirua" has a Māori origin: it may represent a variant of pari-rua ("two tides"), a reference to the two arms of the Porirua Harbour. In the 19th century the name designated a land-registration district that stretched from Kaiwharawhara (or Kaiwara) on the north-west shore of Wellington Harbour northwards to and around Porirua Harbour. The road climbing the hill from Kaiwharawhara towards Ngaio and Khandallah still bears the name "Old Porirua Road".

In the late 1940s state planning envisaged Porirua becoming a satellite city of Wellington with state housing. The name Porirua was first applied to a council in 1961 when Makara County, to the west of Wellington, was abolished, the mostly rural western part becoming the Makara Ward of Hutt County and the rapidly growing eastern urban portion (including Titahi Bay) becoming the Borough of Porirua. Four years later the population was officially estimated at over the 20,000 threshold then necessary for Porirua to be declared a city. Since then Porirua has grown to a city population approaching 51,000, with state housing no longer in the majority. Major territorial additions to the city occurred in 1973 and 1988 as part of the reduction and eventual abolition of Hutt County.

Porirua is largely formed around the arms of the Porirua Harbour and the coastline facing out to Cook Strait and the north-eastern parts of the South Island. Most of the populated areas of Porirua are coastal: Camborne, Karehana Bay, Mana, Onepoto, Papakowhai, Paremata, Pauatahanui, Plimmerton, Pukerua Bay, Takapuwahia, Titahi Bay and Whitby all have direct access to coastal parks and recreation reserves. Several suburbs without direct coastal access, including Aotea, Ascot Park and Ranui Heights, have substantial portions with good views over the harbour. Elsdon, formerly known as Prosser Block, lost access to the harbour as a result of reclamation work, especially during the 1960s. Much of the existing city centre, north of Parumoana Street and east of Titahi Bay Road, was built upon this landfill.

Paekākāriki and the Coast Road

The northern entrance to Porirua is currently through Paekākāriki and down the infamous "Coast Road". Paekākāriki's history has been intimately linked with the railway, and there is a museum at the railway station commemorating this heritage. In 1886 the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company's line from Wellington to Longburn was completed, and Paekākāriki became an important stop on the journey. In 1908, the line was incorporated into the national network of the New Zealand Railways Department and became part of the North Island Main Trunk linking Wellington and Auckland, the North Island's most important line. You can see the train line by looking from the cache site up the hill. Also up there is the newly opened Paekakariki Escarpment Walk, also known as the Stairway to Heaven, and which has a huge number of caches placed along the route. There is NO way from this cache to that trail - you must go to Paekakariki or Pukerua Bay to access the trail.

During the Second World War Paekākāriki served as a major base for US Marines fighting in the Pacific Campaign. There were three main camps, all situated in or adjacent to present-day Queen Elizabeth Park. At the height of the occupation there were over 20,000 Americans stationed in the region, significantly outnumbering locals. The camps were used for training purposes, as well as rest and recreation for those returning from the Pacific combat zone.

In early 2018 Cyclone Gita hit New Zealand, and the resulting waves smashed the Coast Road, the only major link at the moment for Wellington to the west, closing the road for a day and severely limiting traffic for nearly a week. The damage occurred a few hundred metres to the south of the cache. The construction of the Transmission Gulley Expressway is expected to take the majority of traffic off of this road, and leave it for tourists and locals instead. Estimated daily traffic in 2018 is 23,000 vehicles - with Transmission Gulley opening in 2020 it is expected to drop to about 4,000 vehicles.

The Cache

YOU CAN ONLY DO THIS CACHE GOING NORTHBOUND! There are a number of turnouts provided on the highway, and the cache is at one of them. Watch your coordinates closely, because if you miss the turnout you probably have to drive to Paekākāriki, turn around, rive back to Pukerua Bay, turn around again, and try a second time. It is advisable not to do this cache during evening rush hour. Also, watch for cyclists, as you must cross the cycle lane to get to the turnout.

Be extra cautious with any small cachers in tow. Fast moving traffic as well as some interesting cliffs on the other side of the guard rail makes this NOT a place to play around at. You DO NOT need to go over the guardrail.

You are looking for a very small magnetic container, which might be able to hold a key or two. No room for swaps or trackables.

Also make sure that you note the code in the logbook, as you will need this for some of the caches later on in the series. The code is on the back of the logsheet.

Bring your own writing utensil. Online logs that do not match the logbook will be deleted unless previously arranged with the CO. It is a general expectation of all cachers to log their finds online within a few weeks of signing the logbook.