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 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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"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 name Taupō, by which the town is commonly known, is the shortened version of its Māori name, Taupō-nui-a-Tia. Literally translated, Taupō-nui-a-Tia means "The great cloak of Tia", the explorer.
THE FORMATION OF LAKE TAUPŌ: Lake Taupō was the result of huge volcanic eruptions creating the giant basin that is today Lake Taupō. The Lake was created approximately 27,000 years ago by a huge volcanic eruption. According to geological records, the volcano has erupted 28 times since then.
Oruanui is the largest eruption that occurred. It ejected an estimated 1,170 cubic kilometres of material and caused several hundred square kilometres of surrounding land to collapse and form the caldera—"a large crater formed by volcanic explosion or by collapse of a volcanic cone". Māori legend states that the Oruanui eruption sent so much ash into the atmosphere that the sun was blocked across the entire world for two weeks.
The latest eruption occurred in 181 AD and was one of the most violent eruptions of the past 5,000 years. It is estimated to have ejected 100 cubic kilometres of material during the eruption—30 cubic kilometres was ejected in the space of just a few minutes. It is also believed that the eruption column was 50 kilometres high, higher than the Mount St Helens eruption of 1980. There have been no more eruptions from the volcano, however it is considered to be dormant not extinct.
MĀORI SETTLEMENT: The main tribes of the region are the Te Arawa people in the Rotorua area, and Ngāti Tūwharetoa around Taupō. The traditions of both groups link them to the Te Arawa waka, which made its landfall at Maketū on the Bay of Plenty coast. There is a saying, ‘Ko te ihu o te waka kei Maketū, ko te kei o te waka kei Tongariro.’ This means that the prow of Te Arawa is at Maketū and the stern at Mt Tongariro.
Ngāti Tūwharetoa trace their origins back to Ngātoroirangi, a powerful tohunga who travelled with the Te Arawa canoe from Hawaiki. His immediate family came to Aotearoa via the Tainui canoe, so there may have been some friction between him and others on board the Te Arawa waka. Soon after the waka landed at Maketū, Ngātoroirangi left and travelled into the interior of the country to search for new lands. He and his followers journeyed down the coast to Matatā and headed inland via the Tarawera River.
At the time when Ngātoroirangi was moving inland, another Te Arawa chief, Tia, left Maketū and travelled towards Rotorua. He journeyed west to the Waikato River and followed it to its source, Lake Taupō-nui-a-tia. Meanwhile, he named many of the places he discovered, including Ātiamuri and Aratiatia. Ngātoroirangi observed Tia’s journey around the lake, so Ngātoroirangi thrust his taiaha into the lake to lay claim to it and the surrounding lands. He decided to follow Tia and continued to build altars as statements of occupation as he went.
About 700 years ago, the descendants of Ngātoroirangi settled on the land of the Lake Taupō region. However, due to the many harsh volcanic eruptions, the poor soils, the harsh winters, and that the lake did not carry much life as a source of food, conditions were tough. The tribe survived however and built pā (settlements) at the more fertile end of the lake at Pukawa, Te Rapa, Waitahanui and Motutere.
EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT: In 1869 Taupō was founded as an Armed Constabulary post. Not much development occurred in the town for approximately 50 years. Due to cobalt deficiency in the soil the land could not be farmed until it was cleared and fertilised. This did not happen until the 1950s. After this Taupo flourished. Farming was successful, forestry was planted, and a geothermal power station and hydro-electric schemes were built. The success of the region saw improved roading and buildings bringing people, and importantly, tourists, to the region.
TODAY: Taupō is 84 km south of Rotorua, 360 km north of Wellington and 205 km south of Auckland. In 2020 its urban population was 25,400. Although Taupō is closer to Auckland than Wellington, it has traditionally attracted most of its domestic visitors from the lower North Island. The winter view across the lake to the snow-clad summits of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu is one of the most photographed in the country. Please enjoy the views from this roadside platform.
THE CACHE: This is a simple multi cache. Visit the listed coordinates and find the STATE HIGHWAY 1 - TAUPO TO WAIRAKEI plaque attached to a rock across from the viewing platform. Answer the following to derive the final coordinates:
S38 40.ABC
A = Third digit in the year opened.
B = How many letters in the fourth word in the first line of text (not the title)?
C = How many letters in the seventh word in the third line of text?
Checksum for ABC = 17
E176 04.XYZ
X = How many words make up the title of the design team?
Y = What number appears on the third line of text?
Z = Fourth digit in the year opened.
Checksum for XYZ = 8
The final is a short distance away by car. In the vicinity of the final, there are some child care facilities, so it may be prudent to visit outside of key times. The cache is well covered and we expect it to stay hidden from sight. The cache has room for a logbook only. You will need to bring your own pen/cil.