ToP (Tour of Porirua) continues, with some 20+ caches to be placed all around our great city of Porirua.
Porirua History
(with thanks to Wikipedia)
The name "Porirua" has a Māori origin: it may represent a variant of pari-rua ("two tides"), a reference to the two arms of the Porirua Harbour. In the 19th century the name designated a land-registration district that stretched from Kaiwharawhara (or Kaiwara) on the north-west shore of Wellington Harbour northwards to and around Porirua Harbour. The road climbing the hill from Kaiwharawhara towards Ngaio and Khandallah still bears the name "Old Porirua Road".
In the late 1940s state planning envisaged Porirua becoming a satellite city of Wellington with state housing. The name Porirua was first applied to a council in 1961 when Makara County, to the west of Wellington, was abolished, the mostly rural western part becoming the Makara Ward of Hutt County and the rapidly growing eastern urban portion (including Titahi Bay) becoming the Borough of Porirua. Four years later the population was officially estimated at over the 20,000 threshold then necessary for Porirua to be declared a city. Since then Porirua has grown to a city population approaching 51,000, with state housing no longer in the majority. Major territorial additions to the city occurred in 1973 and 1988 as part of the reduction and eventual abolition of Hutt County.
Porirua is largely formed around the arms of the Porirua Harbour and the coastline facing out to Cook Strait and the north-eastern parts of the South Island. Most of the populated areas of Porirua are coastal: Camborne, Karehana Bay, Mana, Onepoto, Papakowhai, Paremata, Pauatahanui, Plimmerton, Pukerua Bay, Takapuwahia, Titahi Bay and Whitby all have direct access to coastal parks and recreation reserves. Several suburbs without direct coastal access, including Aotea, Ascot Park and Ranui Heights, have substantial portions with good views over the harbour. Elsdon, formerly known as Prosser Block, lost access to the harbour as a result of reclamation work, especially during the 1960s. Much of the existing city centre, north of Parumoana Street and east of Titahi Bay Road, was built upon this landfill.
Mana
Mana is often known as "that spot with the weird traffic lanes". It is north of Paremata, west of Camborne and south of Plimmerton. It is a narrow isthmus bounded to the west by the entrance to Porirua Harbour, and to the east by the Pauatahanui inlet of the Porirua Harbour. State Highway 59 and the North Island Main Trunk railway both pass through the centre of Mana; the state highway route was previously part of State Highway 1 until SH 1 was shifted to the Transmission Gully Motorway on 7 December 2021.
Mana was originally known as Dolly Varden (a ship) until community pressure resulted in the name change to Mana in 1960
Ngati Toa Domain
Ngati Toa Domain is a highly significant site which has been linked to the great Polynesian explorer Kupe. We know that moa-hunting people settled here at least as early as 1450 AD. European whalers, sealers and traders made an appearance here in the early 19th century, working from both the shore and Mana Island.
Paremata Barracks Ruins are still able to be seen here. These were built in the 1840s during the New Zealand Land Wars. The site was also used by US Marines as a camp during World War 2.
The Domain is associated with a number of hapu and iwi, including Ngati Ira, Ngati Tama and Ngati Toa.
Amongst the many groups that use the area now are the Ngati Toa Sea Scout group, a local dog owners group with an exercise facility, sporting fields, and a playground.
The Cache
You are looking for an Eclipse container. Bring your own writing utensil. Online logs that do not match the logbook will be deleted unless previously arranged with the CO.
Also make sure that you note the code in the logbook, as you will need this for some of the caches later on in the series.