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.
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.
At the intersection of State Highway 95 and Hillside Road, Manapouri is a natural rock monument in the form of the landmark Monument Hill, which lies across the lake from the township. The attached plaque honours the Save Manapouri Campaign, which marks the first mass environmental movement in New Zealand history.
In 1952, a power project was proposed in Manapouri, New Zealand. The aim of the Manapouri Power Project was to raise Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau to merge the lakes to increase the output of its hydroelectric power station.
The proposal triggered a wave of protests. The ‘Save Manapouri Campaign’ was an environmental campaign waged against this project. The campaign, which took place between 1959 and 1972, was aimed at preventing raising the water levels of the lakes.
“Share certificates”, sold for 50 cents in 1970, $8.39 today, raised funds for the campaign. Retaining the lake in its natural state was the “share dividend”.
264,907 New Zealanders, almost 10 percent of the population, signed the Save Manapouri petition. The campaign was a success and the lake is now controlled within natural levels.
In March 2020 a Celebration marked the 50th Anniversary of the Save Manapouri Campaign.
It brought 200 people to the Te Anau Community Centre to listen to several Guardian Chairs and others tell how they got involved and changed what seemed to be inevitable in 1971. Tangata Whenua Kaumatua, Stewart Bull blessed the event and reflected on the auspicious accomplishment of 50 years ago, after a 13 year campaign. They brought their own special perspective of our Taonga of Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau, working with the Guardians.
A candle)was lit to remember, acknowledge, honour and thank all those who were involved in so many aspects of the campaigns, Jeanette Fitzsimons was also acknowledged.
https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/a-question-of-power-the-manapouri-debate-1980
(3 parts of this documentary)