A View of Putauaki
Putauaki (Mount Edgecumbe) is a very dominant feature on the Rangitaiki Plains towering 820 metres above sea level. Putauaki is a dacite volcanic cone, it is the easternmost vent of the Okataina volcanic centre, within the Taupo Volcanic Zone. It last erupted around 300 BCE.
The story of Putauaki
Long ago Putauaki lived with his wife Tarawera, a mountain upstream. After years of married happiness, Putauaki began to feel restless. His roving eye caught sight of Whakaari (White Island), an enchanting little lady who enticed him and signaled to him with her puffs of smoke. She teased him so much that one night, driven crazy with love for her, Putauaki deserted his wife and went to Whakaari. Cautiously he tiptoed away, but his daughter heard him and followed him. She asked where he was going, but feeling ashamed of his plans he did not answer her. All night, the child tugged at him.
This made traveling dreadfully slow—so slow, that the sun caught him where he now stands. In the full light of day, he could not go on and advertise his intentions to the world. He looked back and saw his wife weeping for him. This made him more ashamed. He could not go forward and he could not go back; so he stayed where he still is, with his child. Tarawera still weeps for him and her tears form the Tarawera River. The child is the foothill to Putauaki.
The co-ordinates should place you by some bollards near the entrance to the Maurie Kjar Memorial Pools.
To claim this virtual, please message us with the answers to the following questions and upload a photo with your log with your 'view of Putauaki' (this can be taken from anywhere you like, as long as Putauaki is in the photo)
1. How many plastic buckets are in the toddlers' play area and what colour are they?
2. How many posts hold up the covered bar--b-que structure?
3. How much does it cost to enter the hot pools?
Once you have messaged us the answers please feel free to log the cache, uploading a photo of your 'view of Putauaki' with your log.
Please note: Any logs not accompanied by a photo of Putauaki may be deleted at the cache owners discretion.
If you get a chance, take advantage of these Free heated pools.
There not a lot of activities that you can find these days that are free and these facilities are an absolute credit to the Council and the Township.
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.