The Tuia Mātauranga - Pōkai Whenua GeoTour: Whā 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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63 of the 150 Pōkai Whenua GeoTour caches will contain a randomly placed special FTF token (a replica of the Tuia Mātauranga GeoTour 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.
Rakaia Gorge Bridges
There are 2 bridges crossing the Rakaia Gorge. One is a unique wrought-iron Rakaia Gorge Bridge - the only design of its type in the world! The 55 metre single-span bridge has trusses that fan out underneath carrying the load to the gorge edges. It was built from 1880-82 for a growing inland population and farming industry. It was built strong enough to take rail, but this never eventuated. The bridge is a Heritage NZ Category One Historic Place. The second bridge that completes the gorge crossing is concrete and newer.
Crossing the Rakaia before the bridge was built
For Māori, crossing the Rakaia River was a major event. Records tell of Māori crossing in rows holding onto a pole. Māori called the river Ō Rakaia - Ō means “the place of” and “Rakaia” could be a South Island version of “Rangaia”, which means “to arrange in ranks”. So “the place where people range in rank" could refer to their method of crossing.
When European people started settling in Canterbury, an Accommodation House was built by the Rakaia Gorge by John Bryan in 1851. It included a smithy, post office, bar and cattle yards. It burnt down in 1878 and was not replaced, but while Bryan was there he ferried travellers, stock and goods across the river in a flat-bottomed punt pulled by a rope from the other side of the river.
Maori legend of how Rakaia Gorge was formed
Stories told from generation to generation are often used to explain the significance of particular land features. This story includes one related to a taniwha in the Rakaia Gorge called Tu Raki Hau Noa. Ashburton master carver, Vince Leonard, described the taniwha as one of four good taniwha who kept the rivers clean. Because the nor-west wind demon came down through the gorge and stole all their food Tu Raki became angry. He pulled the gorge closer together and waited for the demons next visit. When the demon returned he found Tu Raki and was attacked, a fierce battle ensued. Tu Raki was the victor and sent the demon packing with instructions that the next time he returned to come with courtesy. The battle was so fierce that the sweat pouring off Tu Raki turned to crystals as it fell. This is why there are now crystals to be found in the river bed.
The gorge is still renowned for channelling the strong nor-west wind at times, which builds strength as it travels down the Rakaia River to the Canterbury Plains.
At the beginning of the Taniwha track there are several interesting display boards that explain the significance of the area. The track is on private land and has been developed by the local landowner in association with the Rakaia Catchment environmental Enhancement Society. Here you can read about the Nor'wester, the protected river status of the Rakaia, "rock flour", and floods. There is a giant metal sculpture by Hannah Kidd of Methven, of the taniwha at the start of the track. The track was opened in October 2018.
Please bring a pen.