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.

Kenepuru Hospital

Kenepuru Community Hospital provides secondary services catering to the communities north of Wellington, including Porirua and Kapiti. The hospital provides medical, surgical, maternity and child health services, plus services for the elderly, a specialist inpatient assessment, treatment and rehabilitation service, and outpatient clinics.

The site includes an adult psychiatric day hospital and the 13-bed inpatient unit for young people, the Rangatahi (Adolescent) Mental Health Service.

Multidisciplinary services for children and adolescents with emotional, behavioural, or developmental concerns are provided at the Puketiro Centre adjacent to the hospital. The Centre also provides audiology services for people of all ages in the Porirua area.

Porirua Asylum

Porirua Lunatic Asylum (alternates: Porirua Asylum, Porirua Hospital, Porirua Psychiatric Hospital; currently: Porirua Hospital Museum) was a psychiatric hospital located in Porirua. Established in 1887, it was at one time the largest hospital in New Zealand. The patients ranged from those with psychotic illnesses, to the senile, or alcoholics.

Land was acquired in 1884 for a hospital farm that would offer 'work therapy' to relieve overcrowding at Wellington's Mount View Lunatic Asylum. Construction of a one storied 7,000 square feet (650 m²) building containing 24 apartments, H Ward, began in 1886. Porirua Lunatic Asylum, as it was originally named, was opened in the following year and Dr. Thomas Radford King was appointed as its medical superintendent, though in less than a year, he was replaced by Dr. Gray Hassell.

By 1905, Porirua Hospital had 700 beds. In the early 1900s, the facility had 2000 staff and patients. By 1928, nurses moved into their own two-story, 100 room building. The resident population was 1,500 in the 1940s.

After the 1942 Wairarapa earthquakes, 800 patients had to be moved to other hospitals. Subsequently the main building was demolished and eleven new villas were constructed. Most patients were released into community-based care in the 1970s, and the last ward, F Ward was closed in 1977, considered unfit and uneconomical. In 1980, the Puketiro Centre operated as a regional base for children with developmental problems. In 1987, the hospital celebrated its 100-year anniversary, opening the Porirua Hospital Museum in F Ward.

The Cache

You are looking for a Berocca style container. Please make sure to replace as found. Also be very cautious, as muggles can appear at any moment, and you are within close proximity to a very busy road.

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.