Summary 

The posted coordinates take you to a sculpture and sign at a Vivian Street service station, where you can learn more about one of Wellington’s underground streams. Use the information on the sign to work out the coordinates for the cache: 

S41 1A.BCD E174 4W.XYZ 

Where: 

A = Number of letters in the word missing from the phrase "Te ___ o Mapihi"

B = Number of words in the last line of the last paragraph

C = Number of letters in the name of the gully where the stream flowed from

D = Number of letters in third word in line five

W = Number of letters in last word of first paragraph

X = Number of lines in first paragraph

Y = Second digit of the year the bricks were unearthed

Z = Number of letters in the last word in first paragraph minus the number of letters in the last word of the second paragraph

Make sure you bring your own writing device. Please take some time before leaving to ensure that the cache is re-hidden exactly as you found it. 

Details 

What do you expect to find underground? In the middle of Wellington city you might think sewerage pipes and electricity cables - and you’d be right. But you would also find a network of streams. These waterways once saw daylight, but as Wellington grew they were diverted underground to improve sanitary conditions and allow streets and houses to be built above. 

Originally, Waimapihi Stream is believed to have flowed down Aro Valley before making its way across Te Aro flat, reaching Te Aro beach at about the point where the Amora Hotel and James Smith carpark now stand. Today the stream still begins among the hills between Brooklyn and Karori, but it disappears underground at the head of Holloway Road in Aro Valley.  

In 2012 contractors building the Z Energy service station in Vivian Street uncovered the Waimapihi Stream running under the site, along with a Victorian brick culvert dating from around 1870.

An archaeological investigation found middens, or old food waste dumps, containing shells and roots that dated back 600 years. This indicated the site had been used by Te Aro Pa Maori continuously since at least the 15th century. The stream itself is named after a female Maori ancestor, Mapihi, who once bathed in the stream. 

To recognise the significance of the stream and the area, Z Energy and the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust agreed to commission a sculpture made from the bricks from the culvert. 

The sculpture incorporates Mapihi and depicts the way the stream may have looked hundreds of years ago. It was designed and constructed by well-known Wellington sculptor Ra Vincent, who worked on set design and decoration for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies. 

You can go to this link to view a one-minute video of the sculpture's creation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjHe2KBgCcE&feature=youtu.be 

You’ll also notice that the path of stream has been marked out on the service station forecourt in blue.