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.
The Tuia Mātauranga - Pōkai Whenua GeoTour: Tahi 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 piece.
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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Before the arrival of Pākehā, several hapū of Tainui enjoyed the rich source of food in the rivers and streams, on nearby Mount Pirongia and the fertile river flats. There were well-established trails to the coast at Kawhia and the river provided travel by waka to lower Waikato and the King Country.
The first Europeans arrived by the same route, trading with Māori and sharing new skills and technology, many marrying Māori and adapting to Māori culture.
By the 1860s Māori had developed growing trade in flax for export and increasing food supply to Auckland.
The site of the large Alexandra East redoubt (often called the East Pirongia redoubt) in the Waikato occupies a flat grassed area on a slight rise overlooking the Waipa River, part of a new subdivision at Pirongia.
During the New Zealand Wars the 2nd Waikato Regiment established the short-lived redoubt, built for 300 men, in June 1864. In addition to the officers’ and soldiers’ huts and tents within the redoubt, there was a large commissariat store and hospital building nearby, and some structures near the river landing between the two redoubts.
Following the end of the Waikato Land War land north of Punui River was confiscated by the government. A military settlement was established to defend the confiscation line at the 2nd Waikato Militia.