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.

Takapuwahia

Takapuwahia is the oldest settled are of Porirua, and was also known as Porirua Pa. It is the home of one of the iconic Maori Meeting Halls in the Lower North Island, the scene of many famous meetings. One of the most famous visitors to the Marae was the late David Bowie, who made a surprise trip in 1983.

Takapuwahia became the primary home of NGATI TOARANGATIRA, more commonly referred to as Ngati Toa. In the 1850s the village of Takapuwahia had a population of 252 who had come from abandoned pa at Taupo (now Plimmerton) and Pukerua. Besides houses, the pa included two reed chapels, a flourmill powered by water from the stream was under construction. Intensive farming of 80 acres including potatoes, maize wheat and kumara.

A few years later in 1889 the other pa in central Porirua, Urukahika, was abandoned and Takapuwahia became the undisputed primary home of Ngati Toarangatira. In 1901 the meeting house Toa Rangatira was opened, it is named for the founding ancestor of Ngati Toa. In 1910, a school was built alongside and this was used for church services.

In 1980, the old meeting house was demolished, and the current Toa Rangatira built on the same site to the same scale.

The Cache

IMPORTANT -Do not attempt this cache by parking on Titahi Bay Road. There are no pull-offs there and traffic is constant and very busy. Instead use the parallel side street into the park area.

You are looking for a very small round container.

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.