The Tuia Mātauranga Pōkai Whenua GeoTour follows the footsteps of early explorers of Aotearoa New Zealand taking you to places where leaders of the past searched for food, resources and ways to adapt and survive in this new land.
Use the Pōkai Whenua GeoTour as your classroom to explore the stories of the past, in the present, to preserve what is unique in Aotearoa New Zealand for the future.
Collect the codewords to get the Geocoin puzzle pieces
To be able to complete this GeoTour and receive your special Geocoin collectable, remember to take a note of the codeword placed in the cache. This will need to be recorded in your passport which can be downloaded here.
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Considering the incredible amount of timber exploitation/extraction from the bays and valleys of the Banks Peninsula in the 1800s, very little remains of the timber mills that worked so efficiently to decimate the native forests that covered the area.
At GZ – if you look across and up, you will see a sign atop a working mill that is still intact, but it is modern, 1946 to present, and thankfully, not very busy! Have a look at the size of the 2 milled “logs” either side of the gates, imagine the size of the tree.
At WP 2, the Duvauchelle Wharf (1875), you will see rails, a winch and a wagon. Timber, and later farming produce, would have been transported onto the locally made boats using these labour saving devices. Previously it would have been bullocks and cumbersome wagons or timber dragged by chains. The boats would then go to Christchurch, Timaru and sometimes to the West coast. The demand for timber to construct the new city of Christchurch was huge. At WP 1 there is a serene vista of the Onawe Pā. The distinctive shape is clearly seen of the once fortified Ngāi Tahu pā. it separates Barrys Bay and Duvauchelle Bay. The narrow isthmus is close to the original vent of the Akaroa volcano; 12– 6 million years ago. The Miocene rock formations are beautiful. Available close up at low tide.
Onawe Pā means “covered in scars”. The pā had a miserable demise at the hands of the Ngāti Toa and Ngāti Awa warriors led by chief Te Rauparaha, who came from the North Island, besieged Kaiapohia (Kaiaipoi) in 1831. He then travelled to Akaroa with bad intent, on his way back to Kapiti, taking some Kaiapohia captives with him. In 1832 The local Ngāi Tahu led by Tāngatahara, assembled within the now fortified pā, 400 men with a few women and children. It is not exactly clear what happened next but some false messages and assurances by the luckless captives who were sent forward, and a reluctance of the pā stronghold to harm their own, caused a level of confusion, and entry was made. The result was dreadful.
Two whaleboat captains in 1845 reported finding remains at the pā site.
Today, this place of sorrow for many, is peaceful.
The cache is placed near the mill. The chickens will love you if you have some tit bits for them. That’s a deep hole!!
63 of the 150 Pōkai Whenua GeoTour caches will contain a randomly placed special FTF token ( a replica of the Tuia Mātauranga
Geo Tour commemorative coin). This is yours to keep! If you find more than one, you might consider leaving it for the next person who finds the cache.