ToP (Tour of Porirua) continues, with some 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.
Spicer Landfill and Botanical Reserve
Developed at the end of Broken Hill Road in 1976, it was expected that this landfill site (run by the Porirua City Council) would last 30-40 years. As of 2013, with a lot of environmental work having been completed, it is now expected to continue operating into the 2040s, a remarkable 65+ years! In addition to taking household refuse and garden waste, the landfill also accommodates appliances, recycling of all types, and Trash Palace, a resale shop for the better used disposed items. Trash Palace was the centre of some controversy a few eyars ago, when the previous management firm, who employed a lot of metnally disabled individuals, was unceremoniously dumped by the PCC. It reopened under a new contract in 2016 and continues operating today. https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/77980288/trash-palace-in-porirua-to-reopen-in-april
Just at the entrance to the Landfill is possibly Porirua's greatest Botanical garden - the Spicer Botanical Reserve. This is a popular area for dog walkers (who cannot go further up Colonial Knob), nature lovers, and pre-school nature programmes - along with geocachers. The reserve is home to a number of caches. This reserve and the adjacent landfill have inherited the name Spicer as a reference to the Spicer trig station, the nearest landmark at the time. The trig station was originally named for the pioneering Spicer family who owned the land at the head of Ohariu Valley, the site of the trig station.
The Cache
More traditional now than it used to be, but you still need to use your caching knowledge. Good luck.
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.
Bring your own writing utensil. Online logs that do not match the logbook will be deleted unless previously arranged with the CO. General practice is to log your find online within two weeks of making the find in the field, unless otherwise arranged with the CO.