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.

Onepoto

One of the lesser known suburbs in Porirua, Onepoto is bounded to the north by Whitireia Park, a large park which is slowly being returned to native bush, and to the east by the Porirua Harbour. It flows seamlessly into Titahi Bay, which is far more famous. Some of the views from the top of Onepoto are spectacular, some of which you can witness from the cache location.

Whitireia Park

Whitireia Park is a headland with commanding views over Mana Island, Porirua Harbour and its surrounding area. The park comprises around 180 hectares of predominantly open space grasslands with a remnant patch of native bush.  It provides leisure activities such as fishing, mountain biking, horse riding, rock climbing and walking.  The park also provides a unique opportunity for people to undertake a variety of  leisure activities in or on the water including swimming, kite surfing and diving. 

The Cache

You are looking for a camoflauged pill bottle, with no room for swappables. And you NEED to bring an extraction tool to get the logsheet out.

Parking is around 111 Gloaming Hill Road, and then walk up the path to the water tower.

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.